Camcorder
by Your Tomodachi
Summary: It's been fifteen years. The Teen Titans have long disbanded. The Tower is rigged with cameras... and the whole world will be watching their reunion.
1. Pilot

**Note: I wrote this a long time ago. I won't say this is my worst work but it certainly isn't my best. If you're still reading this far, I thank you for clicking on this story and hope you (at least partially) enjoy it. :)**

* * *

**Camcorder **

Rating: T for language, and fight scenes later on. Don't wait for it to be changed to M, or you'll be waiting forever.

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans.

* * *

"Mr. Stone… We have a problem…" Mr. Davis grunted and shifted uneasily. A gold nameplate engraved with 'Victor Stone' in bold letters was shining light into his eyes. Victor Stone was a bald black man. Vic had muscular arms and a well-built body. He was around six foot and could easily outrun the fastest neighborhood dog around. The young man named Victor, sighed. His smooth black suit shined in the sunlight flooding through the open window behind him.

"What now?" Mr. Stone asked in a bored tone, "Is Mrs. Ford's hearing aid dysfunctional again? I swear that woman is pushing me to the limits!"

"No Sir, it's not her… It's- It's the television company…" Mr. Davis said softly. The gold jewel studded ring on Mr. Stone's right index finger twitched ever so slightly.

"Well? What do they want?" Mr. Stone demanded.

"The ratings for 'Future Tech: The Next Generation' has dramatically dropped since it's last season—"

"Of course it would, that was the last episode!" Mr. Stone roared, clearly agitated.

"But, Sir… Our contract is also coming to a close… They want you to come up with a new series within the next week, or they're bumping us up to the 5:30 morning slot."

"Damn. No one watches the morning shows! How's the franchise doing?"

"Poorly Sir. That new store, 'Geek Tech and Parts', has had a lead over our sales from the past week." Mr. Davis answered.

"Ugh! Dammit, John! Go get me Ro—" Mr. Stone stopped himself. He was about to say 'Robin' but caught the error. "Go get me Tom, tell him I want stats on all the top shows airing between 8 to 10 PM."

Mr. Davis nodded, "Yes Sir" and left.

The Great Mr. Stone… Vic Stone. No one would've ever guessed he was once one of Gotham City's Super Heroes—A Teen Titan. And it was all thanks to the expensive looking ring tightly wound around his finger. A traditional holographic device hidden within a ring… Yes, very original. Granted, he had modified it over the years, but it still held the same person: Cyborg.

* * *

15 years earlier…

The shrill alarm sent Beast Boy reeling out of his bottom bunk bed and toppling onto the messy floor.

"Dude! What now?" he asked himself. He stole a quick glance at the digital clock sitting on his dresser. It read: Saturday 6:32 AM. Grumbling he picked himself up and transforming into a cheetah at the same time he bounded for the Lobby.

Beast Boy sat down next to Cyborg watching their leader, Robin, intently. Sitting around him were his teammates: Starfire hovering in the air (clearly she was not fully awake yet, the toothpaste still in her mouth proved that), and Raven by herself in the armchair. Robin hit a red button on the television control panel behind him and the blaring alarms stopped.

"I'm sorry to have called some of you out here so early in the morning…" Robin apologized and shifted his head in the direction of Starfire and Beast Boy, "…But Cyborg and I feel that this meeting be urgent, in the case we get never get the chance again…"

"Friend Robin… I do not understand… Then we are not under attack?" Starfire asked the question on two of the Titan's minds.

"No, Starfire, we're not. I called this meeting because in a matter of months Cyborg and I will both be turning twenty- Twenty years old." Robin added to make things clear for Starfire; he did not want to repeat this speech any more than he could.

"Following us in age will be Raven, Starfire, and Beast Boy." He paused and looked at Cyborg.

The metal man got the message and continued Robin's speech, "We're not gonna be the 'Teen' Titans anymore ya'll. So we're gonna take a vote. Either we continue protectin' the city until the matter's brought up again, or we split and go our separate ways."

Robin nodded in approval.

"D—Dudes! We can't split up! I mean we're the TEEN Titans man! Who's gonna protect the city if we're gone huh?" Beast Boy yelled.

Starfire stepped up, "I agree with Friend Beast Boy! Where will we go if we are to do the splitting up? And who will defend the city from the bad men?"

"Starfire…" Robin said softly, "Starfire… If we split up, there _will be _no Teen Titans anymore."

The young girl looked on the verge of tears. Cyborg gave their fearless leader a look of sympathy but kept his mouth shut. Robin would be the only one to comfort Starfire—no one else.

"This… is a wise and yet stupid meeting." Raven said as all eyes turned to face her, "Many of you are unaware, but between your late teenage years and early twenties are when your body is at it's fullest. In order to fight crime throughout your life you should have been trained to do so when you were first born. As far as my knowledge goes, the only one that fits this criteria is Robin."

The teen nodded as his name was said, "You're right Raven… And I plan to fight crime for the rest of my life, whether you guys choose to follow me or not."

"Hold up here a minute! What do you mean by all this teenage, early twenties, mumbo jumbo? What does that have to do with us?" Beast Boy asked.

Raven glared at his from beneath her hood, "It has _everything_ to do with us—especially us! We are crime fighters, Beast Boy. That means we put strain on our bodies day in and day out—24/7, around the clock! But, we are also susceptible to injuries, fatigue, sleepiness, and especially _old age_. In this line of work, the citizens of Gotham City are depending on strong, able bodied, quick witted people—"

"You _still_ haven't answered my question! What does—" Beast Boy found his mouth glued shut by crackling, pulsating dark magic. All eyes shifted back to Raven, no one dared speak.

"I'm _getting_ to that part!" the young half demon growled, "Like I was saying, after a certain age, the body doesn't live up to it's fullest. Meaning if you were to take a direct hit from Cinderblock now… you might come off with a few bloody bruises and some cuts and scrapes. But… If you were to take that same exact hit fifteen years from now, you'll be lucky to have a few broken ribs. Now, there's an exception in oh—let's say—Robin. Take Robin for example… he's been trained to fight crime his whole life. That makes his body structure and senses far more capable than ours. In this way Robin eludes some hindrances that will cripple you and me. These include: sustaining stronger blows from the enemy, longer endurance, better senses, and above all—withstanding _old age_. Do you understand _now_ Beast Boy?"

The green teen nodded and the dark magic binding his mouth dispersed, "So what are we supposed to do? Disband?"

"That's why I'm saying this whole voting thing is stupid. As a leader, Robin should be able to make this decision on his own, based on what he thinks is best for the team."

"Gee Raven, sounds to me like you _want_ to split up and get the hell outta here." Beast Boy mumbled under his breath, but Raven only heard it and glared.

"I—Raven's got a point… Meeting adjourned… You'll be called back as soon as I come to a decision… So stay within the Tower grounds." Robin waved the rest of the team away. Slowly each and every Titan got up from their seat and went their respective ways. All of them wondering what Robin's final answer would be.

* * *

A beeping went off—this time not the alarm, but on the communicator. Beast Boy eagerly unhooked it from his belt and flipped it open, hoping to see Robin's concerned face and hoping to hear "Titans! Jonny Rancid is robbing the bank! Get down there as fast as you can!". Beast Boy was _so_ desperate to take his anger out on something he would even settle for "Control Freak has just broken into RoboMania!". His thoughts kept leading him in the direction that Raven wanted to just get away from the Titans forever, that _she_ planted the seed of disbanding into their leader's mind. To hear "I've made a decision. Meet in the Lobby" just made his blood boil even further.

Robin then addressed the Titans formally for the second time that day.

"The Teen Titans… We've beaten every villain, every criminal, and every man of wrongdoing that has even dared to step foot in Gotham City. We were alone in our work, having countless nights without sleep tracking down a criminal, and having wild adventures out in the deepest reaches in space. But now… now we have loyal friends and allies to aid us in our work and they have proven themselves to us time and time again. We've faced everything there is to face… for crime fighters. I'm sure most of you have never really experienced life—the other side of life—to it's fullest. And being your leader, I want you all to experience that. I want you to be able to walk down the street and buy a hot dog without having to sign a million autographs just to get to the cart, I want you all to be able to get a normal job, to live a normal life… for when I—Robin, your leader, turns twenty… the Teen Titans will be officially disbanded."

* * *

The day Robin turned twenty…

The Tower was gloomy. Robin suggested that the team go out in a bang, lock every villain up before they disband. But the depressing tension hovering around quickly shut him up. Starfire constantly weeped, sniffled, and sometimes openly cried… But to no avail, Robin wouldn't budge—It was his final answer. Beast Boy had locked himself in his room only appearing to get food, and when he _did_ appear, he was usually seen as a snake. When questioned by Starfire (whom was the only person he ever talked to nowadays) he said, "Because snakes don't have ears, and this way I won't be able to hear anymore of that shit coming out of that bastard's mouth. Plus, if he tries to hurt me, I've got no problem injecting him with venom that'll eventually kill him." To his answer, Starfire openly burst into tears for several hours.

Cyborg seemed to have his own way of shutting out the world. He would play his Gamestation for hours on end, sleepless days went by and he would only get up to recharge his battery. Beast Boy did not talk to him, and Cyborg felt so bad about the whole thing that he went out and bought another Gamestation with his private account, wrapped it up, and set it in front of Beast Boy's door to try and make amends. The other half of his cybernetic heart then broke upon hearing Raven's remark of, "Your Gamestation's floating in the ocean… About a half a mile off the coast, I only investigated because I saw a strange green bow tied around it." Cyborg was then again never seen outside his room, with the exception of emergency missions that Robin _ordered_ him to attend. Training days were over. Robin tried as hard as he could to get the Titans to train but it was useless. The gym was now only used by a young man who was an expert on hiding his emotions and face by a simple mask.

Raven seemed normal on the outside, but the Titans could tell she too was also internally suffering. She was almost as depressing as Beast Boy. She would teleport to wherever she wanted to go in the Tower and usually ghosted through walls whenever someone walked her way. One time she teleported right in front of the refrigerator and at the same time Beast Boy had slithered up in front of it. The changeling had then actually tried to sink his fangs into her thigh, but was blocked by a quick force field. They then ended up at a standstill until Starfire had burst into the room tripping over her own feet and had started crying. The two fighting pair had then both departed leaving Starfire to be found by Robin. When Robin went about his daily surveillance camera check, he saw the whole fight. He blamed it on conflicting moods and shrugged it off, he also did not want to press charges on one of them and leave on a bad note. And as Raven and Beast Boy's chemistry worsened so did the crime rate.

Word had gotten out that the Titans were disbanding. Gotham City was sad, but not concerned. After all, they had the Titans East to cover their backs. Criminals were flooding into the city left and right eager to get the first jump on the unprotected loot. The Titans were an embarrassing mess and a total wreck in battle. They no longer took Robin's command as law, and Beast Boy even questioned him one time while fighting Killer Moth.

Starfire's starbolts seemed like they acted on half dead half alive batteries. They would flicker on one minute and when she needed them the most, they would flicker off. She also couldn't fly higher than a two-story house. Robin explained it was probably because she's a little sad so her emotions conflicted with her flying powers. Cyborg's sonic cannon was usually the first thing to fizzle out. He had used up all his energy staying up all night playing Gamestation. To top it off, he wouldn't exert over 70 percent of his total 100 percent Energy level. Raven always seemed on the defensive, protecting the now useless Starfire and Cyborg, just waiting for Robin or Beast Boy to finish off the attacker. And it was only because of Robin and Beast Boy did _any_ crime fighting really get done. The once happy-go-lucky teen had now become a vicious monster out on the battlefield, not even hesitating to deliver a life-threatening blow. Robin did more saving of the villains than fighting them. Even their fearless leader had lost some of his spark. He would stay silent when a criminal taunted him, and would take direct hits like a mute—because he too—thought it was all his fault that this was happening.

* * *

The Titans were finishing packing their bags full of personal belongings, and normal civilian clothes. "Take only what you can carry" was Robin's advice (aside from Cyborg who was the only one with the car). They also each had a fake college degree. Whatever you wanted a degree in, all you had to do was write it in, and boom, you got it (It was a gift from one of the many colleges for protecting Gotham City). They also each had one communicator, no GPS signal (Robin took it out, lest someone wanted to remain anonymous), no emergency beeping, and no outside interference. Just a plain old five-way communicator… that would only reach five other communicators. This was it, the Teen Titans would be gone forever.

"So…" Robin said as they gathered in the Lobby, the exact same place this whole thing started would now end, "Would anyone like to tell me where they're headed? I plan to stay here, in the Tower... of course, and you can all drop by whenever you want."

He glanced around their sullen looking group. Beast Boy raised his hand, which surprised Robin.

"I'm going somewhere far away from _you_." was his answer.

Cyborg then tried to make up for Beast Boy's stabbing comment and said, "I'll be in an apartment somewhere. Sorry, but I wanna remain unknown."

His answer then sparked Starfire to say, "I shall miss you Friends… But I am afraid that I will be returning to Tamaran."

This brought out an even sadder face from Robin.

"Somewhere." Was Raven's short reply. They said short goodbyes but did not hug or cry… One by one each Titan stepped over the threshold to the outside world, where they would go their separate ways, and maybe… just maybe… by one small chance they would all meet up again almost fifteen years later…


	2. The One With The Whip Lashing News

15 years later…

* * *

Mr. Stone read over the stats on each of the different shows again just to make sure. His first series, Future Tech: The Next Generation, had been a huge hit. Not only did it display all of his best works of technology, but also the most secret. Examples would be like a metal syringe embedded in your finger or arm. That connected to your nerve center and could fire off a variety of defensive mechanisms with but a fleeting thought. The ammunition included pepper spray, ink, foul smelling odors, and bb pellets. Mr. Stone thought he was contributing to society in his own special way.

After the incident involving the Titans almost fifteen years before, he remembers moving into a small apartment just like he had promised Robin. The preparations had all been made a month in advance, Cyborg wasn't stupid. He wasn't sure whether or not Raven, Starfire, and Beast Boy would be able to find, set, buy, and move into an apartment all by themselves. But his worries soon faded as his life continued without them. Registering under the name Vic Stone, he soon came across the problem of getting enough power to fuel his battery. He'd brought along a spare, but spares only lasted so long. He didn't want to use the small little outlet in his living room. For one, it'd take at least a week to recharge his battery completely, and two, Robin would know exactly where he was located if he only looked at the electrical bill (and Robin _did_ look at Gotham City's electrical bills). The solution came to him while he was scouring for a job. RoboManiac… Get a job there, and modify their outlets to let in large quantities of power at a time. Plus, Robin would never suspect Cyborg worked there—it was a geeky electronics store.

Mr. Stone's eyes catch a name listed on his results paper.

"'The Witch Killer': Sundays at 8:30 PM. Summary: A girl named Robin finds out she has weird powers meant for killing witches, she uses them not knowing… blah blah blah, what a load of trash!" Mr. Stone takes a ballpoint pen out of his top drawer and slashes a line through 'The Witch Killer'.

Robin… No, not Robin anymore. After that day, Robin officially changed to his name to Nightwing. He guessed it was because "Robin" sounded too childish and "Nightwing" had more of a ring to it. Plus, it was when a teenage boy becomes a man, yes… Robin deserved that name. Last Cyborg heard of Nightwing was something on the news about an engagement (this was certainly new to _his_ ears), and soon after they were spreading rumors of how Nightwing's anonymous wife was living with him in the Tower. Still, the news channels kept up their clips of Nightwing, but day-by-day, little by little Nightwing became more and more like his counterpart—The Batman. Taking his place were the more cheerful, upbeat Titans East. They wore bright colors, showed off their talents, and never missed a chance for an interview.

Mr. Stone remembers when the Teen Titans were like that… Young, naïve, stupid at times, fun. It was all fun and games to them, and now he sees the light. It's almost like ripping off the covers that were clouding your mind before… He looks back and is ashamed to find so many things that he regrets. So many embarrassing moments, so many times when he tried to show off only to screw up, and so many times when he wished he could just go back in time and fix it all. But those days were over. No longer would he be the little boy who tried so desperately to fit in, no longer would he be the only Titan to mess up. Those instances were what made him who he was today and those instances were what climbed him up the corporal ladder.

Starting out, he was a rookie, given the simplest job a fake college degree could get someone. A cashier. The person who rings up items, takes money, gives out change, only in the end to say, "Have a nice day!" When what you're really saying is "Thank god that's over with, I couldn't take anymore of that bitch."

He put up a first-class façade. His good merits and cheerful smile slowly crept him up behind the store manager until in no time at all, _he_ was the one bossing little rookie cashiers. But his aim was higher. Oh no, Mr. Stone didn't want to be store manager, he wanted to be The Boss. The CEO of RoboManiacs. Mr. Stone knew he'd never become the Owner, no, that was earned by inheritance passed down the line one idiot after another. But he'd find a way when by pure luck his superior had a sudden heart attack. It would be a new beginning for RoboManiacs, such a young man at such a young age would be taking the place of their biggest figurehead. It was ridiculous, and yet right at the same time. They were uneasy about it at first, but were content with the switch after a few months. At the edge of the hospital bed Mr. Stone cried artificial tears as he left the dying man in the hands of the doctors, after all, Cyborg was the mechanic on the team—not the healer. No, that was Raven's job.

Speaking of Raven, Mr. Stone wondered what she was doing with her life. What she looked like, where she lived… etc. He was curious. He figured she made up a fake college degree with art or poetry as her major. Or maybe she joined a cult and preformed witchcraft? He shook the last idea out of his mind, Raven wouldn't be the type to do that. Or what about Beast Boy? Did he become a freak and join the circus just like Starfire had predicted when she traveled into the future? Mr. Stone didn't think so. Beast Boy was his closest friend, and he set high hopes for him. He still thinks of him whenever he sees broccoli—Or avocados—Or string beans—Or celery.

Mr. Stone looked at the top television show with the highest ratings.

"'Gilmare Girls': Saturdays at 8 PM. Summary: A romantic comedy about a teenage girl going through high school. Filled with boy troubles, and heartbreaks… yadda yadda yadda! Geez, who likes romantic comedies anyway?" Mr. Stone says angrily grabbing his pen in the process and ripping a line through it. He flips the page and reads off another show.

"'Pink's Anatomy': Fridays at 9 PM. Summary: A drama revolving around a medical bay and doctors… yeah yeah yeah, heard it all before." Mr. Stone flips to the next page reads a little bit and flips to the last page. His brows show that he is in deep concentration and his eyes scan the pages at inhuman speed—for under his mask he is anything _but_ human.

Mr. Davis suddenly thrusts the (recently polished) double doors open, and enters Mr. Stone's office.

"Sir!"

Mr. Stone whips his head up at the sudden intrusion. He then winces at the slight sound of metal on metal but hides it quickly.

"What! And can't you knock?"

"Sorry Sir but… Mr. Cantill has just called in."

"Why? He was supposed to come next month!"

"He heard of the news, said it was urgent, and is wants to meet with you."

"Oh good god… Not another one…" Mr. Stone groaned, "How long?"

"He'll be here in twenty minutes Sir."

Mr. Stone grumbled, "Fine." And Mr. Davis was gone. The President and Owner of RoboManiacs, was currently a man named Edgar James Cantill. When Mr. Stone first met the man he seemed to scream: EMOTIONALLY UNSTABLE GEEK in big bold letters. Mr. Cantill's father lost the battle to cancer last year and his son had ascended the throne at the tender age of 18. That—in itself—was a mistake. Sometimes Mr. Cantill reminds Mr. Stone of when he first met Beast Boy…

* * *

Twenty-five minutes later…

* * *

His sweat made the flimsy cotton button up shirt stick to his white skin. His dark brown freckles littered his face and were constantly moving due to the teen's oversized glasses.

"V-Vic, I got here as fast as I could when I heard the news… XYZFamily wants to boot us out don't they?"

"No…" Vic started slowly, "No… They're just going to reschedule us, and they just want a new show out. Pronto."

"Oh… Oh I see. Well? What's the new show going to be about?" The geeky teen asked as innocently as possible. For him, Vic was almost like a replacement father.

"Well, I'm having various ideas looked into… It'll definitely—"

"Be a Tech Show right? 'Cuz I heard that new place Geek Tech and Parts—you know them right? Well, they're coming out with their own Tech Show and I wanna beat the hell outta—" He stopped short after seeing Vic's menacing glare.

"No. What I meant to say was it will definitely _NOT_ be a Tech Show." Vic paused to raise a hand signaling for Edgar to shut up and keep his comments to himself until asked. "I've read over the stats and it seems romantic sitcom dramas are the way to go if we want to gain the upper hand in the ratings. Do you hear me?"

Edgar firmly nodded but one could see he was clearly hating this decision.

"Good. Now… If you'll leave me to the work at hand, " Mr. Stone got up and gestured for the door, "…Mr. Cantill."

After some confidential business folders were exchanged, Mr. Cantill left.

Vic sighed. He knew now, what Robin must have felt like. To make a decision purely based on one's morals and downright raw luck. Mr. Stone was lucky his superior had had that heart attack. He was lucky his first show idea was a successful hit. He was lucky that he was still undiscovered. He was lucky he had survived living fifteen years of his life away from the Titans. He was lucky those first thoughts of suicide had left his mind fifteen years ago. He was just… at the right place at the right time. And he hoped to god the rest of the Titans were just as lucky.

* * *

A change of perspectives…

* * *

"Good morning Gar!"

"Hey Garfield, nice weather ain't it?"

"Why it's nice to see you up this early Dr. Logan…"

The young zoologist smiled sheepishly and shrugged, "What can I say Hank?" The two men laughed and went about their work. Garfield Logan had your average golden California tan, slightly pointed ears, weighed around 180 lbs, and stood to about 5' 5''. His short spiky dark brown hair and his toned muscles only added to his quirky charm. Fifteen years later and Beast Boy was still the class clown. He had picked up a job at C.A.R.E. Laboratories as a lab assistant but had gotten a promotion quickly because of his extensive knowledge of the many types of animals and their behaviors. Garfield (also known as just Gar) was known for his research on large—almost beastly—mammals.

Jumping off the Tower fifteen years ago, Beast Boy still remembers exactly what happened. He had transformed into a pterodactyl, grabbed his lonely suitcase and had flown off, never looking back. That was the last he saw of the Tower (except in the news) but what he _did_ see was Raven teleporting in mid-air and disappearing from his life forever. His first thoughts were "Good riddance" but now a healthy man at the age of 32; he places at least _some_ shred guilt on himself.

As with Cyborg, Beast Boy wasn't stupid. He had found and bought an apartment almost two weeks prior to the split. Getting his skin color bleached took time, but Beast Boy had planned it perfectly. Two to three months of regular usage and his skin would look like a normal human being. But the bleach pigment somehow didn't change with Beast Boy when he transformed. He had tested it (like any good scientist would do) and had found that he returned to his normal green color whenever he changed shape. This was part of his reason for becoming a snake when there were people nearby.

He still kept his odd hours of sleeping in and handsome smile still glued firmly to his lips. Yet, on the inside he had changed dramatically. The world was no longer a nice place full of bunnies and rainbows… Beast Boy had learned this already when his parents had died, but he was getting this lesson beaten into him again whether he wanted it or not. During that intermission between Robin's announcement and 'That Day' the green teen constantly pestered Robin to change his mind. Convincing him that he was going nuts, even tried the sad puppy tactic using the Doom Patrol as an excuse.

"_Where will I go if we split?" Beast Boy asked his leader._

"_You can get a place. Find an apartment… Get a job." Robin had answered._

"_But—But I don't wanna go back to the Doom Patrol…"_

"_I didn't say you had to, BB. You can live on your own..."_

"_But… "_

"_Sorry B, but I need to do a lot of paperwork involving the—the departure… Please… Try to figure this out yourself alright?"_

"_I—I don't wanna leave…" was Beast Boy's last reply as Robin turned the corner in the hallway. The changeling just sort of gave up, after that. He was tired of arguing with Robin and knew this was the end. Beast Boy shut the world out after that, his heart wanting to spill his secrets to the one person who would listen—Raven. But his mind told him otherwise and he went off in search of Starfire…_

Dr. Logan chuckled while reminiscing. Oh, the calm before the storm, never had that phrase hit him as hard as it did those few days leading up to the split. Someone whacked him gently on the shoulder.

"Hey Gar! Heard the news lately?"

"Naw, why don't you tell me Nick?" Gar asked his friend while trying to examine an animal cell at the same time. It was actually his own cells, taken from him while he was in animal form. Gar had purposely cut himself on a piece of glass as a cat and had then taken the blood in for testing. As far as he knew, no one knew he was once Beast Boy the Teen Titan.

"Hell, I'll tell ya! The latest, I hear, is that Nightwing's anonymous wife is actually his anonymous husband!"

Gar jerked up from his microscope, "What! That's bullshit, and you know it."

Nick chuckled, "Yeah, I know. But it's funny to see your expression… Gee, I don't know why you stick up for the guy all the time even though you hate him." Gar forgot how it happened. His best friend, Nick, was actually a big time Nightwing/Robin fan and was greatly depressed when the Titans broke up. How the two friends got together Gar couldn't remember. They had a certain chemistry and were like two magnets just waiting to get within arms length. Nick respected Gar's hatred for certain Titans and never really asked why, all he knew was that Gar was a big time fan of Beast Boy's.

Nick had just gotten out of college and was a tad older than Gar. They both had the same destination in mind: C.A.R.E. Labs. Although Nick was more into birds and eventually became an ornithologist, they still were best friends and hung out as often as they could.

Halfway into his career Nick married his long time girlfriend and Gar ended up being the Best Man at the wedding. This event sent floods of memories through Gar's head for the following week all of them revolving around the Titans and Raven—the girl he swore to hate after she ruined the Team. Nick knew of Gar's resentment toward the dark girl, and wondered why but never really brought the question to the surface of their conversations.

"Duuude… You need a girl." Nick slurred as he plopped into a swiveling chair next to his best friend.

"Shut up. Why don't you go fuck Sam when you go home?" Dr. Logan suggested as he referred to Nick's wife.

"Too bad my friend… I already did this morning." Nick replied. The two laughed and continued on in silence. It was broken when Gar looked at his watch.

"Heey… Nick… Lunch break, let's grab somethin' to eat."

"Riight… Comin'." Nick said as he grabbed their coats and headed for the exit. In Nick's car, they headed for their favorite lunch hangout: McBurger's.

* * *

As their drinks came, Nick droned on and on about how he wanted a kid and how Gar should go grab a girl. The mammalogist soon tuned him out but a certain word caught his interest.

"—So I said 'no way!' and then he was like 'yeah, I saw Raven from the Teen Titans!' and then—"

Gar put his hand up to signal Nick to stop, "Wait—what? What about Raven?"

"Henry said he saw her near the bookstore yesterday… Why? I thought you don't like her."

"I know… I know—I don't. But… Ugh, never mind. Forget it. Just forget it." Gar waved his hand around as if to fan away the conversation. Nick brought up another topic instead, that Gar soon blocked out as well. Raven, Raven, Raven… Gar wanted to know what she looked like nowadays, what she put on that fake degree… What she was doing… He got these sudden urges almost everyday and wished they would leave him, he had his oath (to hate her forever) to hold up. And everyday his oath got closer and closer to cracking. Gar knew sooner or later he'd have to forget her—or become obsessed with her. Gar went back to daydreaming as Nick prattled on about something not important.

"_Ugh! God, Raven's such a bitch! I _swear_ she's out to break us all up!" Beast Boy yelled angrily to a heart broken Starfire. Right now Beast Boy was the only one talking and Starfire remained silent. Truthfully they each just needed someone to listen to their feelings and that's just what Beast Boy was doing right now. Unfortunately for Starfire, the only person she wanted to talk to was locked up in his room doing "disbandment" paperwork. So they were both content with each other's presence._

"_Friend Beast Boy… What are you going to do after we do the splitting of the up?"_

"_Don't know. Don't care. But I hope Raven's enjoying herself. That bitch is probably dancing around her room right now singing 'Halleluiah!' Well, you know what? She can just go fuck Malchior for all I care! I can give a rat's ass about her right now!"_

_Starfire seemed unsure of her next course of action, "Friend… Maybe you are mistaken…"_

"_No! I'm _not_ mistaken! The bitch _wanted_ us to just split up! I mean did you _hear_ a _word_ she said back there? It was almost as if she was _planning_ this with Robin! They both—"_

"_That is enough!" Starfire roared angrily. Beast Boy stopped suddenly, surprised at Starfire's sudden outburst. "You _will not_ bring Friend Robin into this! He is trying as hard as he can as a Leader and has made a decision that will benefit us all in the run of the long! You WILL NOT talk about Robin in that way!"_

_Beast Boy then felt a steaming pang of guilt enter his stomach and looked to the ground. Silently he transformed into a harmless garden snake and slithered out of the room. He didn't hear Starfire's sobs after his tail left her door's threshold._

Gar.

Gar!

GAR!

"GARFIELD LOGAN!" Nick screamed in the young zoologist's ear.

"AH! What the hell was that for?" Gar yelled and felt something damp, "And why is my hair all wet?"

"Sorry, but you didn't wake up after the first hundred slaps… So your water conveniently spilled itself over you."

"Yeah right."

"Whatever… C'mon break's over doofus." Nick casually tossed a five-dollar bill on the table and they made their way towards Nick's car.

* * *

Nick switched on the radio and the radio blasted out tunes of love and romance.

"Ugh… can I change the channel?" Gar asked.

"No, I like it here… Just kiddin'! Go ahead, do whatever you want."

Gar adjusted the radio's dial and a news channel blared out. They rode on the rest of the way just listening to the current news. Suddenly Nick slammed on the brakes. Gar's head was sent reeling forwards and had the breath knocked out of him by his restricting seatbelt.

"What the… fuck…!" Gar looked over at his best friend menacingly.

"Gar! Did you hear that?"

"Hear…hear what?" Gar struggled to get oxygen back into his lungs.

"The radio idiot!"

"Well, NO! _Someone_ had the courtesy of slamming the brakes on! Just a _tad bit_ too hard!"

"Sorry" Nick shrugged, "But it's important…"

"Spill it already you ass!" Gar choked out.

"The Teen Titans are reuniting!" Nick exclaimed happily. And that's when Gar chose to regurgitate his breakfast all over the dashboard.

* * *

A change of perspectives…

* * *

Mr. Stone sat at his desk daydreaming… about his love life. Yeah, there were to occasional office sluts, but they just didn't have any _substance_. At first he thought his life would be great with Bumblebee. She was spunky, tough, and cute. Then again… Jinx seemed to fit those criteria too. Perfectly. She was mysterious, could handle herself, quick witted, stealthy, and beautiful. Plus, she was around his age group, so it wouldn't look half bad.

But she was a criminal. An ex-criminal. The best of the H.I.V.E. had gone _their_ separate ways shortly after the Titans. Word got around that they did individual underground odd jobs in Gotham. After he'd pulled a couple strings Mr. Stone knew she was still in Gotham City. Somewhere.

That brought him back to Robin and Starfire. They were head over heels for each other. Would they ever admit it? No. It was painstakingly obvious that Robin had feeling for her (How far those feelings went was still up for debating). Especially that time when Blackfire forced Starfire to almost marry that green slime of a pudding. What was his name again? Glorgosplat? They were both getting hundreds of fan mail everyday telling them to hurry it up (and in some cases, get past the 'denial' stage).

Robin and Starfire was one thing. Raven and Beast Boy? You're talking about a whole new ballpark. They were complete opposites on the outside, yet on the inside they were so similar it was creepy. Both went through some bad childhoods, both had nowhere to go save the Tower, and both had a first hand crash course in romance. Beast Boy with Terra, and Raven with Malchior. It all worked out. The two just needed a gentle little push in the right direction…

Make that a really hard shove. Cyborg knew how much Beast Boy loathed Raven during the 'calm before the storm'. He doubted Beast Boy got over it, and knowing him, he was still holding that grudge.

And that brought Mr. Stone to the topic of blind dates. 'The Handsome Bachelor', 'The Beautiful Bachelorette', 'Temptation Mainland', 'For Love or Cash', 'Mediocre Joe', 'Newlyweds'… they were great shows. Sometimes Mr. Stone thought about what would happen if Raven and Beast Boy were on one of those shows.

And then it hit him like a ton of oversized bricks. All he needed was fourteen exclusive-state-of-the-art thimble-sized cameras, a little time, and a Fifteen-year Reunion.


	3. The One With The Fifteen Year Reunion

The fourteen cameras would record everything in the Tower. They would then relay the footage back to the station. The assigned Editors would cut and paste, add bios, bleep out profanities, and whatnot. The following week it would be put on air… for the whole world to see. Mr. Stone hoped the hype would speed up sales and improve business. It would all depend on luck now.

"I see Sir. I'll alert XYZFamily of your plans." Mr. Davis said curtly and exited the room.

"Well, that was easy… Now for the hard part. Where am I going to find a super secret agent who can infiltrate Titans Tower without getting caught?" Mr. Stone mused to himself. It was funny to him to have to break into his own home almost. Actually, this wouldn't be too hard. A call to Jinx was in order.

As the ringing of the phone echoed in the room Mr. Stone waited impatiently for Jinx to pick up. The ringing stopped and fuzzy static was heard in its place.

"…Hex speaking."

"Hello Jinx." Mr. Stone answered coolly.

"… …Vic… Stone? …What's Mister… high and mighty doing… calling little ol… me?"

"I need a favor Jinx, it's important."

"…You'll get nothing… from me… if you go on calling me… Jinx… …It's 'Hex'…" Hex growled into the phone.

"Right… Forgot you changed your name." Mr. Stone lied.

"…Liar." Hex said.

"Don't say it like it's a bad thing."

"…I _am_… bad… …But enough of the small talk… I'm busy… So spill… And make it …quick." Hex replied. Mr. Stone could hear footsteps in the background. Or was that the static? He couldn't really tell.

"Fine, I want you to take fourteen cameras and install them in Titans Tower… Without getting caught."

"…I'm _never…_ caught…" Hex breathed into the other end.

"Pick them up tonight. I'll leave them outside the window."

"…What do I get? Hex's… work… is very pricey…" Hex asked.

"Just put it on my tab." Mr. Stone joked.

"…That's one big… I.O.U. or fourteen… little ones…?"

Mr. Stone ignored Hex's light banter and repeated the location, "Tonight. Window sill."

"…I'll… put you on the bottom… of my… 'To Do' List…" Hex reassured him and the line went dead. Mr. Stone knew they would be gone in the morning. Whether he put them outside the window or not.

* * *

The media was in a frenzy since the statement was sent out last Saturday. The Teen Titans weren't forgotten as much as they had thought. Hardly a generation had passed and compared to the Titans East, they were still top dog. Word spread like wildfire and soon it was leaked out that a few camera crews were going to be allowed to tape this event. Rumors were created and spread but other than that everything seemed to be doing fine.

And then questions were raised. _Were the Titans going to going to fight crime again?_ Mr. Stone thought as he dialed Mr. Cantill's home office.

"H-Hello?" came an uneasy voice on the other end.

"Hello Mr. Cantill. This is Vic."

"Oh! Oh, hi Vic. Did you call about the show? I heard all about—"

"No. I came to tell you that I'm taking vacation time until further notice." Mr. Stone said simply.

"O-Oh alright. I'll see you then…"

"Thank you Mr. Cantill. Goodbye." And he hung up the phone without waiting for a reply.

* * *

A change of perspectives…

* * *

"What am I going to do! The Reunion's tomorrow!" Nightwing's voice echoed throughout the Titans Tower hallway, "Who said we were going to hold a reunion huh?" He raised his voice so he could be heard over the rain hitting the windows. It was a full downpour and wouldn't be letting up for a few weeks at the best. What a great time for a reunion… Nightwing cursed the rain and whoever started this whole Reunion gig.

"Oh, be quiet!" a female voice commanded, "It'll be nice to have a reunion."

"No, it won't!" Nightwing protested and paced about the Lobby.

"Haven't you dreamed of a reunion since …since… forever?"

"I might have… But—But the team… They wanted to remain anonymous…I want to honor those wishes."

"You will. It's their choice whether they want to come or not. No one's going to put them in jail if they don't come."

The man smiled at the irony. The room was lit up for a millisecond as a bolt of lightning ripped across the sky.

"You always know just what to say." Nightwing said softly walking toward his companion. He brushed his lips against hers and stood to leave. He counted off things to do with his gloved fingers.

"I'll have to scan the Tower for …erm 'T.V. Spies' and set the Tower up. Heighten security, and install some crowd control. Maybe we can put some decorations—" he was cut off by two hands that wrapped him around his broad shoulders and spun him around. Her lips found his once more and when they broke apart Nightwing smiled again.

"Or maybe I could do all that later…"

* * *

A change of perspectives…

* * *

The Reunion Day…

* * *

The small island was bare save a few news channel trucks here and there, the sky was littered with helicopters eager to catch a glimpse of the event. And Gar's pants were soaking wet. Why had he chose to go to the Reunion he really wasn't sure. The following day had gone something along the lines of:

"_Dude! A Reunion! This is what the whole city's been waiting for!" Nick exclaimed happily the day before. The duo was currently heading towards Titans Tower fighting rain and traffic at the same time._

"_Whoop dee frickin doo." Gar mumbled. Truth be told, he really didn't want to spend the day in his friend's car waiting for Nightwing to appear._

"_Why aren't you excited man? The big day is tomorrow! I want to get a video of Nightwing!" Nick said waving a camcorder in the air with one hand and the other on the steering wheel._

"_I've seen enough of Nightwing to last me a lifetime."_

"_Yeah right. The only things you've seen were on TV., and that doesn't count!" Nick said oblivious to the fact that Gar had also seen Robin in boxers, shaving, and taking a piss._

"_Whatever. I don't see why it's so exciting." Gar said expressionlessly. As Nick went over how the Titans were the greatest heroes ever and how they had broken up little over fifteen years ago and how they were _finally_ getting back together Gar was thinking about _his_ role in tomorrow's events. Should he attend? Even though he'd never admit it, he really did want to see everyone again. That including Raven._

_A few hours later and the car was rolling up to the docks, Titans Tower could be seen as a large letter 'T' on the horizon. Nick's car joined the ranks of hundreds of others who had the same idea in mind._

"_Aww man, everyone's here!" Nick whined as he stepped out of the car, umbrella opening._

"_Of course everyone's here!" Gar said from inside the car. His thoughts still in a heavy conflict with only thirteen hours left to come to a decision._

"_Fine then, you can _stay_ a sour puss while _I'm_ going to enjoy the beach!"_

"_Go ahead." Gar answered to Nick's retreating form._

"_Who'd want to splash around in the pouring rain at 7 o' clock at night?" Gar mumbled to himself._

_By the time Nick came back from his stroll Gar was fast asleep with a half eaten bowl of leftover tofu sitting on his lap. He had come to a decision and let his mind carry him into the sweet abyss that was sleep._

* * *

The rain seemed to slow him down and make his limbs heavy. Slipping out unnoticed (at about 2 a.m.), Gar quickly dressed for the occasion grabbed his knapsack, and ran out into the night. In his rush, he had forgotten a couple of things. One of these things being an umbrella. Soaking wet in a nice coat and pants, Gar regretted seeing the look on everyone's faces. Disgust would show on Nightwing's, humiliation on Cyborg's, maybe embarrassment on Starfire's (did she even know about the reunion? Did they even have television on Tamaran?), and pure anger on Raven's. Beast Boy slowed his sprint into a slow jog and then into a walk. If all they cared about was the way he was going to show up, why should he even bother? Doubts crossed his mind and he couldn't bring himself to go through with the plan.

It was supposed to be so simple. He would sneak out of the car around midnight, run to a deserted alleyway and wait until 8 a.m. Then he would transform into a bird of some sort, and fly over to the Tower. There he would stay maybe for the night and then leave. Meanwhile, Nick would wake up to a lovely note telling him Gar had gone home because he was so bored.

Garfield slapped himself on the forehead. That was the second thing he had forgotten: the note. Great. Now how was he to explain his 'disappearance'? He hoped Nick wouldn't notice in the morning commotion.

Gar turned a corner down into an alleyway. The over hangings on the small second story apartment complex shielded him from the ice-cold rain. He'd see the Titans again. He couldn't let his resolve diminish because of his cowardice. They didn't know him anymore… They were just old acquaintances. That was all.

Gar rushed to find an abandoned warehouse, shack, anything. His deserted alleyway wasn't very deserted. It was too close to the action and people walked back and forth right in front of it. The rain was still pouring, Gar's hair was matted down and dripping into his eyes. His beige coat weighed upon him full of water, and his shoes and pants weren't in any better condition.

Bursting with adrenaline he rounded a corner dodging screaming fans. He'd have to take a chance. He closed his eyes and imagined the animal he wanted to become. No one noticed a greenish eagle carrying a knapsack. No, they were too busy listening to their radios, or watching their television sets at home. And the ones not at home only saw a green speck sailing out over the ocean.

Eleven TV channels must have caught his entrance on tape. With all the wind and rain, it was hard to be secretive. The double doors opened and allowed a green eagle to soar through. It plopped down on a chair to the right and transformed back into Beast Boy. He looked around. The Tower was just as he had last saw it. White ceilings with a black stripe here or there, red carpets and chairs. Yes, the Entrance was just as he had left it.

But smack in the middle of his fantasy were four others.

Sitting on a chair over to the left sat a large man half human half machine: Cyborg. Standing in front of him was a young man in a blue and black uniform: Nightwing. And standing at his side was a redhead dressed in her unmistakable uniform: Starfire. But those weren't the people Gar was really paying attention to. His attention was purely focused on the girl standing in front of Nightwing and Starfire. Her back was to him and she seemed to be talking to Nightwing. Cyborg caught sight of Beast Boy and said something to Nightwing. The masked hero averted his gaze away from the girl he was talking to and met Beast Boy's eyes with his own for a moment. Nightwing's lips moved some more and Beast Boy could vaguely pick out, "Look over there".

The girl he was talking to turned around and their eyes locked.

* * *

"She looked taller", was the first thing that popped into Beast Boy's head. Maybe it was the bangs, the purple shoulder-blade-length hair, or the long black trench coat that went down lower than her knees. Or maybe it was the fact that she was soaking wet, causing a little puddle to form around her feet. Beast Boy didn't know. The water ran down her hair, over her shoulders, down her leather trench coat, and dripped steadily onto the floor.

"Well…" Nightwing started, "…I guess this is where I say: 'Welcome back Titans'."


	4. The One With The Harsh Feelings

Camera 2: Lobby

Beast Boy actually felt good. It was almost like bringing your dead dog back to life. Sure, he and Nick had had some great times, but Beast Boy would never come out feeling this good. Nightwing had done his usual thing and had taken everyone up to the Lobby to relax and get used to the Tower again. Seemed as if everyone remembered his or her usual spots. Even fifteen years couldn't change the seating charts.

"So…" Nightwing scratched his head, "Um…so uh…" it was plainly obvious that he wasn't expecting us. Or maybe he had stage fright?

"Maybe we should go around and tell everyone about ourselves." Cyborg suggested. Nightwing nodded in agreement.

"Okay, I'll start." Nightwing paused, "Hi, I'm Richard Grayson. Or Dick for short. I work as uh…a superhero. I'm thirty-five years old and I enjoy training."

Silence.

"I'll go… Since no one else wants to." Starfire spoke up. Everyone except Nightwing was a little shocked at Starfire's grasp of English. They then settled back into their seats knowing it _has_ been fifteen years…

"Hi, I'm Kori Anders. I'm a fashion designer, but I don't really like the paparazzi, so I work more… 'Behind the Scenes'." She shifted, "Oh! And I enjoy long flights above the city in my spare time."

Beast Boy and Cyborg both opened their mouths at the same time. Cyborg looked at Beast Boy and Beast Boy looked at Cyborg.

"You go." Beast Boy said quickly. Truthfully, he was scared. Though they were his friends… it was almost as if they were strangers too at the same time. He stole a glance at Raven and tried to guess what her answers would be. He knew she was thirty-four, probably liked to read, and was an artist? He'd never seen her draw… He really didn't know that much about her. She hadn't moved a muscle since she sat down. She was staring out the window, head turned away from him.

"…And I enjoy makin' up new stuff for the shop."

Beast Boy jumped and snapped out of his thoughts when Cyborg cleared his throat.

"Uh… Um… Hi? I'm uh… Gar Lo—Garfield Logan. I uh… am currently working at C.A.R.E. And I uh… I like to hang out with my friends." When Raven didn't automatically start talking Gar added, "And uh… I'm done."

Raven didn't even twitch as she recited her information, "I'm Rachel Roth. I'm an independent author, and I like to read and write."

Gar didn't even catch all of it but didn't dare say a word.

A little beeping sound came from Dick's pocket, "You guys will have to wait a bit longer to get to know one another. We have a meeting with the millions of people outside our door…" he said disgustfully.

* * *

Camera 10: Outside

It was unanimous that everyone wanted to remain camera, autograph, and paparazzi-free. It was also decided that Nightwing tackle the interview alone. To which he protested but ultimately lost.

"So Mr. Nightwing, is it true that the Teen Titans are all inside the Tower right now, at this very moment?" A news reporter asked.

"Well, yes. I'm assuming you all saw them arrive didn't you?"

"No Sir! Only Cyborg and Beast Boy were caught on tape! Mr. Nightwing, would you mind telling us who this 'mysterious' wife of yours is?"

"Yes, I do mind." Nightwing growled, "No comment!"

The struggling interviewers faltered a little but soon found their footing and bombarded poor Dick with even more personal questions. Dick sighed. The Titans East never got this much publicity!

* * *

Camera 5: Elevator

Gar had a tiny little knapsack strung around him almost like a backpack. Surprisingly, Rachel had almost the same thing—except that it was a carry-on suitcase. When they had gotten away from Dick, Kori immediately flew to the 'residential' area of the Tower and said she would tidy up everyone's old rooms. Vic broke away from the remaining group and said he was going to grab the T-Car before someone else does (obviously an excuse to leave a certain two alone).

So Gar had suggested that they meet Kori upstairs and possibly unpack. Rachel silently agreed and had started for the elevator. Her slightly damp black trench coat opened up a bit as she walked. Gar couldn't help watching as she walked to the elevator with her right hand tucked into her pocket and the other wrapped around her suitcase. When she had opened and entered the elevator she stared back at Gar—her face expressionless. He recoiled and started rushing around trying not to look like he had been watching her. Gar's calm mental state had just broken and he wished he could just go back to hating her from afar.

Gar coughed, "So… uh… Rae, how's life?"

"It's Rachel… Or Raven." She said in her usual monotone. She was staring at the numbers at the top of the elevator screen, watching as each floor passed by.

"Uh… hahaha… You never forget to correct me on that huh?"

No answer. Gar fidgeted. Why was he trying to start a conversation with her anyways? She was the weird, mysterious, but beautiful, and smart creepy goth, remember? The elevator seemed to take its sweet time making the situation last forever. Gar's thoughts raced, _Should I talk about the weather? No, it's been raining for a week now! What about her eyes? Should I say something cheesy about her eyes? Hey Rae, your eyes are really pretty you know that? No! It's Rachel! Dang it! Hurry up you frickin elevator! Maybe I'll ask her about her work, what does she do again? Ugh, Gar, you couldn't even remember that?_

Gar was squirming and rubbing his arms feverishly. Rachel's eyes flickered towards Gar without moving her head and she watched him with interest. He was sweating. Did he have a fever? He was hopping from one foot to another. Did he have to go to the bathroom?

Her power could detect people's emotions that were near her. Her abilities had grown over the years and she had also picked up new ones, but she wasn't the type to brag. Rachel was also capable of mind reading, and right now it was hard to resist the urge not to scan Gar's brain (But if she did that would be violating her unwritten privacy policy). She _could_ however, sense his emotions. And right now they were telling her there's lots of inner turmoil and indecision. She was also picking up a faint trace of confusion. Judging by his body language she put two and two together—he was trying to start a conversation, and was probably not used to being around old friends again.

Oh right, they weren't friends anymore. She sighed softly. How could she forget? It was the most heartbreaking time in her life. Gar was furious at her and Dick for splitting up the group. He had nowhere to go if they left. The Doom Patrol was out of the question, it was almost as if she was dumping him out on the side of the street with nothing at all. Little did he know that she was in the same predicament.

Gar opened his mouth to say something but the 'ding' of the elevator cut him off. He watched as Rachel exited out into the hallway. He silently cursed himself for not saying anything and followed her.

* * *

Camera 7: Center Hallway

"Well…" Rachel said, "If I remember correctly your room is that way, and mine is this way."

Gar stood in front of a steel door labeled 'NIGHTWING' and watched Rachel walk towards her room. She _had_ remembered correctly. Their rooms were on opposite ends of the Tower. Gar and Vic's rooms were separated from Rachel's and Kori's by Dick's room. As a leader he didn't want any 'funny business' to go on during the night so when the Tower was designed, his room separated the two genders.

* * *

Camera 6: Left Hallway

Kori met Gar in the hallway.

"Uh… Kori? What were you doing in my room?" Gar asked as politely as possible.

"Oh, just cleaning that's all. Go ahead, it's clean now." She stepped aside for Gar to pass her but he didn't.

"So… You know English perfectly now huh? That must be a relief."

"Yup!" she answered happily, "it took about a couple years with Dick's advice, but that's all one really needs."

"Dick helped you?"

"Of course! There was no one else in the Tower after we split up."

"Wait—Dick. Dick Grayson? Helped you? I—I thought you went off to Tamaran…So… what? I'm confused." Gar grabbed the sides of his head.

"You're still the same Gar... But if you must know, I changed my mind in mid-flight and came back. Dick let me in and I've been living here ever since."

"So _you're_ the anonymous wife?" Gar said actually starting to get the conversation.

"No. I'm still his wife."

"What!"

"Oh, I mean I'm not really anonymous."

"Yes you _are_! No one knows who 'Nightwing's anonymous wife' is! Hence, the word: _anonymous_!"

"But people really _do_ know who I am. They just don't know I'm married."

"You're married!" Gar exclaimed.

"Isn't that what 'wife' means?" Kori asked a little confused.

"No, I mean—yes! I mean, I just didn't know... I mean, Dick? Nightwing? _Robin_? Why? I mean, _when_? Wait, never mind, it was all over the news… it's just hard to believe… You guys were so obvious, but… it just never happened. I guess you guys wanted to wait until we were out of the house huh?"

Kori patted Gar's head, "Just unpack and get some rest." And with that she left.

* * *

Camera 2: Lobby

Dick plopped down onto the couch clearly exhausted. Kori brought him some water.

"Damn, those reporters will stop at nothing to get two words outta me!"

"Drink your water Dick." Kori commanded. He did.

"So, have anything planned for us man?" Vic asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You know… Like any group plans… Now that we're back together. I mean, are we even back together?"

"No… Well…" Dick looked at Kori for a split second. She was frowning and Dick quickly said, "I've been thinking… if—if we all agree… We can become a Team again. We can be just The Titans."

"Dude! Are you serious? That's awesome!" Gar yelled out.

Vic certainly wasn't prepared for this. All his preparing for his new show: 'Teen Titans Fifteen-year Reunion: Inside Scope' would be for nothing. If they were to get back together what was the point of satisfying XYZFamily? Damn Richard for pulling this little surprise out!

"But… I understand if you don't want to… Well, if you all have jobs and lives to live… There _is_ the option of living a double life… It's not that bad." Dick said.

The three Titans sat in thought. It'd be a life changing decision. These things took time to plan and prepare. Except for today, time just wasn't on their side. A very familiar alarm went off and very familiar red lights flickered. Dick leapt out of his seat and ran over to the television screen setting his glass on an empty space on the control panel.

"What's going on?" Vic yelled over the alarm. Everyone had leapt up much in the same way as Dick and were awaiting orders from their former leader. Gar even noticed that Raven had got up from her seat when the alarm went off. Old habits were hard to forget.

"Titans East sent an emergency backup signal!" Dick yelled, "They need help!"

"Was there a video attached?" Vic asked quickly. Dick shook his head.

"Wah—what should we do?" Gar asked as Kori left the Lobby. He looked at Raven—she was waiting for orders from Nightwing.

"Where's Kori?" Dick demanded.

"I'm right here!" she called as she flew towards Dick. Her arms were full of various costumes including everyone's old Titans costume. Dick looked at her and she looked at him. A silent argument went on and Dick sighed.

"Alright everyone! Suit up! We're going down there as a temporary team! C'mon hurry!" Dick directed as he himself went back to trying to find the Titans East's coordinates. A few seconds passed and no one had moved an inch. "What's wrong with you people? We get an emergency signal and you're just _standing_ there?"

"Dude…" Gar pointed to his old uniform, "I'm not goin back into spandex!"

Dick groaned. He looked Gar over, "So you're fine with wearing a wet t-shirt and pants?"

Gar nodded, "Yup, I've got my coat."

"You too?" Dick cast a glace at Vic and Rachel. They nodded in agreement. He tossed Vic a large orange-brown sweatshirt with the word ETCHED on the front and some baggy blue jeans and said, "Well Vic, you can wear some civilian clothes at least."

* * *

Camera 15: Cyborg's Eye

Everyone was in civilian clothes except Nightwing. Kori objected to stick with civilian clothes also and chose a purple skirt and tank top. She also had on a pink jacket.

Arriving at the scene, Nightwing jumped off his R-Cycle (or was it an N-Cycle now?) and immediately started chatting with the cops trying to get a picture of the event. As the remaining Titans exited the T-Car crowd control was really having a hard time keeping everyone in check. Bystanders formed a huge ring around the area waiting to catch a glimpse of the new Titans. There were so many umbrellas it looked almost like a multi-colored tent of some sort.

"What's going on?" Beast Boy yelled over the noise and the rain.

"The Titans East are down! They need medical attention!" Cyborg yelled back.

Bumblebee, Speedy, Aqualad, and Mas y Menos were out cold in the rain just lying on the asphalt. Raven was over them immediately healing any external wounds. There were mild injuries, a week's rest and they'd be back to normal.

Nightwing ran back over to his team, "Big fight here! The cops got a few words out of the Titans East before they went into unconsciousness!"

"What'd they say?" Gar asked.

"It seems someone else has come out of retirement." Nightwing said, an angry look on his face, "Slade's back."

* * *

Camera 3: Gym and Medical Bay

"Bee?" Cyborg said softly, "…Beeeee?"

Bumblebee squirmed under the sheets.

"Bumblebee…?" Cyborg cooed softly again.

"…Stone?" She asked using his nickname he used to break into the H.I.V.E. Her eyes slightly opened but were still adjusting to the light.

"Good, finally, you're awake!"

"How long has it been? What happened to the team? And Cyborg? What are you doing here?"

"Slow down… We're in a hospital. I'll start with the first question: you've been out for almost five hours. Did you have a good sleep?" Cyborg asked softly. Bumblebee nodded.

"Good… Good. Um… Well, your team basically got kinda beat up. But it's not that bad! So don't worry, a week or so and they'll be fine."

"A week…?" Bumblebee asked shocked.

"Yeah, and Nightwing got your message, that's why I'm here. I'm sure you've heard about the reunion…"

Bumblebee nodded. How could she have _not_ heard it? If you didn't hear about it on the television, you'd be bound to hear it on the street.

"Cyborg." Nightwing walked over to the exit, "Security's up and running. Speedy's making a… speedy recovery. He'll be well enough to watch over them, let's go."

"Wait… Cyborg." Bumblebee called out, "How's Aqualad?"

Cyborg read Aqualad's stats. "He's physically damaged, nothing major… Internally healthy, heartbeat steady, mentally he's just going into REM sleeping state…He'll be fine."

"Oh. That's good…" Bumblebee slurred before she fell into a deep sleep. Cyborg frowned. Where was Jinx when you need her? Bee loved Aqualad. She'd never like him. He was too old for her anyway. He wished Hex was here. The metal man sighed and followed Nightwing outside… thoughts in a jumble.

"Alright team, we're going to catch who did this to the Titans East. And unfortunately that person is Slade. So, we've got to careful and cautious. I've got information that Atlas was also involved in this somehow. Cover each other's backs; we're headed for the docks before they ship him off to Timbuktu." Nightwing then boarded his R-Cycle kicking up wet dirt as it roared to life and sped off in direction of the docks. As the other Titans clambered in the T-Car Raven lagged behind.

"Raven!" Cyborg yelled out to her, "What're ya doin? Let's go!"

"I'm going to fly there. I'll meet up with you later." Raven answered but was not heard over the rain and noise.

"What!" Cyborg yelled.

Fortunately Beast Boy had read her lips and told Cyborg, "She's going to fly. I'll go with her." Cyborg nodded hastily and Beast Boy transformed into a hawk to close the space between them.

It was only when he started tailgating her that she reached out with her powers and transformed him back into a human by force. Using a platform made of dark magic she hovered him up to her level.

"Dude! You could've warned me you were going to do that!" Beast Boy yelled at her.

She glared back and said, "You could've warned me you were going to follow."

"Touché… Why did you choose to fly anyway? The T-Car's warmer."

"I could say the same thing about you."

"Ugh! Why can't you give me a straight answer for once? That's all you ever do! God, Raven that's why everyone hates you and thinks you're a creepy goth!" Beast Boy blurted out. She didn't say anything, instead a black umbrella formed over his head.

Beast Boy didn't feel bad about saying all those things about her, actually he felt good. He _was_ mad at her and he was doing the best he could to hate her. But then…

"Why did you do that?" he asked.

"To stop the rain from hitting you." She said almost like it he asked her that everyday.

"But—Why?" Beast Boy asked again sounding desperate.

"So you don't get anymore wet." She said calmly.

"But—God dangit Raven! You're supposed to be mad at me! Fling me into a building or something! What the hell is wrong with you?" Beast Boy yelled out in frustration.

Her eyes moved to face him but she remained silent.

"How can I hate you if you don't hate me back?" The confused changeling said softly, but Raven heard it. They flew together the rest of the way without a single word exchanged between them.


	5. The One With The Rooftop Chat

Camera 15: Cyborg's Eye

Atlas's binds were skewed all over in various puddles and Spike, his mechanic, was nowhere to be found. Beast Boy and Raven landed shortly after Nightwing.

"Got him?" Beast Boy asked. Nightwing shushed him and continued prodding the police for answers. The green man shivered in his coat wishing the T-Car were there. Raven had abandoned her cloak and hood years ago—she stood in the cold wind and rain just letting it hit her—eyes blurry, focused on something in the distance. The guilt caught up with him. Why had he said that about her? Well, she deserved it after all, she broke everyone up—her and Nightwing. But he didn't have to hate her… No, he _did_, because she forced him to live on his own nowhere to go. Just alone in the world.

"…Are you cold?" she asked him. He looked over at her. Why is she asking that? _He_ should be the one asking _her_ that! Why dammit, _why_?

"…No. I'm fine." He lied. He just didn't want to have to talk to her at the moment. The docks were bathed in light as the T-Car sped up to the scene. Starfire immediately flew out and landed next to Nightwing—concerned for his well being.

"Yo! B! Get in here! You too Raven! You guys are gonna catch a cold or something!" Cyborg yelled and held open the door.

Beast Boy ran over hugging his shoulders and shut the door behind him. Inside the T-Car, Cyborg turned the heater up full blast.

"Hey, man… leave the door open for Raven." Cyborg said. Beast Boy snorted.

"Huh. She likes the rain. She's a creepy goth remember?"

"Dude, what's gotten into you?"

Beast Boy glared at his friend, "What do you mean?"

"Why do you hate Raven?"

"Why do you care?" Beast Boy yelled, "I just don't like her! End of story!"

"No one with that attitude sits in the T-Car!"

"Fine!" Beast Boy got up and out, slamming the car door shut. In an enraged state he walked up to Nightwing and nudged him in the side.

"Ow! Yes Beast Boy?"

"What's going on?" Beast Boy yelled over the rain.

"Atlas was captured, but then escaped along with his mechanic, Spike! I think they took off on foot! But I'm not sure! We'll have to fan out and look for them!" Nightwing yelled back, "Titans! We're going out in search of Atlas and his mechanic! Everyone split up—" Nightwing paused. They didn't have communicators anymore how would they find each other if they split up?

"Er…" Nightwing thought for a moment, "On second thought, split up and if you find them send up a flare! If thirty minutes goes by and no one has found them meet up back here!" He unclipped some spherical devices from his belt and tossed them to each of his teammates. Then he said two words that he hadn't said in fifteen years…

"Titans, Go!"

Raven chose to stick to the docks. Using her powers as a sort of radar she was able to scan the areas around her for emotions. She found the two policemen who were giving off waves of fear and relief. Nightwing was faint and she figured he was in the opposite direction of her, Starfire was much in the same way except she sent signals of concern. Cyborg was undoubtedly in the T-Car as his emotions were moving at a very fast rate—concerned and a little pissed. Beast Boy was surprisingly the closest to her and he was very angry. But those were all emotions that she knew and expected.

She slowed her sprint into a slow walk and stopped all together. Taking a deep breath she closed her eyes, calmed her nerves and concentrated on her soul self. Raven opened her eyes again which were now glowing white and a bird formed out of thin air. It took off at a lightning fast speed—disappearing into walls, abandoned warehouses, and buildings searching for Atlas and Spike.

When the search was over Raven veered off to her right heading straight into a warehouse labeled 'SHIPPING 23'.

"Well, here goes the flare." Raven mumbled as she hit a small button on the bomb's side. It beeped twice, turned red and started flashing. Chucking it into the air, it exploded like a firework display. She gave them five to seven minutes.

The door to the warehouse was unhinged, another sign that Atlas and Spike were here, and if that weren't enough, the foot shaped puddles outside would. She opened it carefully—it squeaked but otherwise was quiet. It was just like an old horror movie. But she liked horror movies right? She was the dark and scary one on the team. As she stepped into complete darkness her nerves started to get to her. The rain outside blanketed her sense of hearing, the darkness took away her sight, and the cold numbness jarred her sense of touch. What else did she have to rely on? Her sense of smell was only as good as a normal humans, and what was she going to do—taste Atlas to death?

"Concentrate…" She said, calming herself. Raven inhaled and exhaled slowly… taking in a musty smell of rain and rusted metal combined with polluted air. She jumped as something whizzed past her face and hit the adjacent wall with an echo.

"Who are you?" A squeaky voice asked.

"Shouldn't _I_ be the one asking that?" Raven replied coolly.

"Are you a… cop?" the voice asked.

"Maybe… Maybe not. Why don't you turn the lights on so you can see who I _really_ am?" Raven taunted. She heard someone come through the open warehouse doors but the footsteps stopped and did not come any closer. She could sense it was Beast Boy.

"No one tells Atlas what to do!" a voice boomed and the lights flickered to life. She barely had enough time to dodge a fist of red metal and a backhanded blow to the face. Conjuring up a plane of dark magic out of thin air, she flung it at the robot, slicing off his right arm.

"Mechanic!" Atlas roared and Spike came running out with another arm. With a soft 'pop' it was attached and Atlas began his assault on Raven again.

"Take this! And that!" Atlas yelled each time he threw a punch, to which Raven nimbly jumped to avoid. "Stop running away!" Atlas screamed in frustration.

"I don't want to kill you." Raven said calmly. The robot yelled and came rushing towards her.

"You cannot beat Atlas!" he cried and flung himself on her, which she avoided easily. She wondered why Beast Boy wasn't jumping in to 'come to the rescue' and the thought was oddly worth pondering over-but not at this moment.

_Fine_, she thought bitterly, _if Beast Boy won't help I'll just fight Atlas on my own._ Punching the gigantic robot in anger helped a bit. Atlas roared and didn't know when to quit as his mechanic watched helplessly from afar.

"Still mad about Cyborg?" She taunted him.

"He was a worthy adversary..._ You_ are nothing but a waste of my time!" Atlas yelled back. Raven's eyebrow twitched.

"A waste of your time huh?" She grumbled under her breath, "When I'm through with you... You'll just be a big_ pile_ of waste!"

She muttered her three famous magic words and hundreds of knives-shaped planes of dark magic appeared at her disposal.

"Say hello to my father—in hell." And with that Atlas was sliced to pieces in front of Beast Boy's very eyes.

Pieces of Atlas flew everywhere and were crackling with electricity. Spike's eyes grew wide with fear and he scampered off into the shadows. This time louder footsteps were heard and Nightwing's voice cut through the silence.

"What in the world _happened_ over here?"

* * *

Camera 4: Interrogation and Artifact Room

"Well, at least Atlas won't be breaking outta jail anytime soon…" Gar joked. No one laughed. Dick had been at it for almost three hours now trying to get Rachel to say something other than, "I don't know", "he was going to kill me", and "it was the only thing I could think of". Beast Boy felt a bit guilty for not stepping in which might have changed the outcome of today's events.

"Richard…" Kori pleaded, "Just give it a rest… You've got all the answers you need isn't that enough?"

"No! It's not! A team member just killed someone, Slade robs Atlas, we have evidence that's he's planning something, and you want me to just 'give it a rest'?" Dick yelled.

Kori was fuming, "You—Richard Grayson—are being a very very bad man!" She flung her hands up as if done with his whining and cursed loudly in Tamaranean. "You _will_ let Friend Rachel go and you _will_ get some rest!"

Dick opened his mouth but Kori beat him to it.

"And that's _it_! No more squabbling! Goodnight!" She turned on her heel and left. Dick sighed and released Rachel's restraints.

"Maybe she's right… Goodnight Titans." Dick waved as he walked out, "Oh, and I forgot to say this earlier, but …uh… Have a nice stay."

"I think I'm gonna go recharge and shut down for the night... Maybe do a little check on the um…" Vic paused, "…security cameras. You know just to see if uh... Anyone you know... Did stuff." He said awkwardly and left.

"'Night." Gar mumbled as he too left. And Rachel was left alone in the dim light of the Interrogation Room.

* * *

Camera 11: Beast Boy's Room

Gar groaned as a light flickered on and off on his dresser. He reached up and clicked the snooze button. It started beeping. Gar mumbled something incoherent and forced his eyes open—his alarm clock read 2:30 AM. Twisting in his sheets he managed to untangle himself out of his covers and put some clothes and shoes on. Grabbing his alarm clock he shut it off.

He spotted his knapsack in the dim moonlight and scooped it up.

_This is it_, he thought as he pulled the window open, _No more Teen Titans. Back to being plain old Garfield Logan the science guy..._ _Back to C.A.R.E., back to the apartment, back to see Nick... Hey, I wonder if he's worried? Oh well..._ He sighed. _Goodbye Teen Titans and goodbye Titans Tower._ Taking another deep breath he transformed into a bird and flew outside.

* * *

Camera 9: Roof

Flying up to the top of the Tower he transformed back into his human form and plopped down in the middle of the Titan's makeshift volleyball court. For a few minutes he just sat there thinking about the things that would be waiting for him back home.

He spotted movement.

"Who's there?" He called out to the empty night sky. _Great_, he thought, _Dick's probably up here to stop me from leaving._

"Rachel?" He said as the figure got closer. "What are you doing up here?"

She eyed his knapsack and took a nice deep dive into his emotions. "I was about to do the same thing you're doing right now." It was then that he noticed she was carrying the same suitcase he saw her with in the elevator.

"Escaping?" Gar asked.

"No… Just leaving." she corrected him blatantly.

"What? Same thing!"

"You want the dictionary definition or my sarcastic one?" She asked him.

"Neither. I'd take Kori's definition any day." He mumbled and turned around to face the ocean. They waited there on the roof tensely-waiting for the other to make a move first. Beast Boy had a little daydream where he was staring at Rachel instead of at the slowly moving ocean. He snapped back to reality before he almost fell asleep.

"So... You—You wanted to leave too?" he asked.

She hesitated at first but replied, "I don't feel right staying."

Gar nodded. "Me too." He shuffled around. "You know… I—I'm sorry about what I said. I was mad… You see, I've just been holding this huge grudge ever since we split up fifteen years ago… and I… I don't know… I just sort of hated you and Richard for a while. And—ugh… I feel so immature right now." Gar felt so nervous and afraid of her reply to his confession. A huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Fifteen years of hatred were gone in those couple of sentences. He felt better didn't show it.

She resisted the urge to say something sarcastic or a quick little jabbing one-liner and was silent for a while.

"So... Hope you're... you know not mad or anything... And well, I hope you don't think I'm being a complete retard right now. But knowing you, you probably would've said something weird and sarcastic and make me feel dumber. And why am I still talking? So right now you're saying I'm being stupid and should shut up and I would say something stupid back and that would just make me look even worse but we'd all get a kick outta it and then Vic or someone will interrupt and why am I still talking?" Gar asked himself, "I'm gonna shut up now."

She walked up behind him and stood at the edge of the Tower watching the city, her black trench coat billowing out behind her, hands in her pockets.

"You think too much." Was all she said. She was a woman of very little words.

Gar stared at the back of his former teammate as a whirlwind of thoughts spun through his brain but none seemed to comprehend. "I uh… like your hair. You grew it out." Gar said trying to make small talk and to get his mind off of the past memories that seemed to pop up every time he was around her, "Uh… you got bangs now… That's a new addition."

"…Thanks." She said quietly and without any hint to her emotions. She was busy mulling over what Gar had just said to her in the past five minutes. Somehow she could hear every word coming out of his mouth and she knew there'd never be another moment quite like this one. If she hadn't been standing in front of him, he probably would've saw her smile.

"You know when we were talking… And everyone told each other their jobs?" Gar asked, "Well, I kinda missed your part."

"I'm an author and translate on the side."

"Oh… That's cool. You… write books?" he asked. She nodded slowly. "Heh, I'm a zoologist. Never would've guessed that huh?"

She stopped herself from saying something about Gar's stupidity.

"How many books have you written so far?"

"Three." She said shortly.

"Ah… So, are you planning to make a fourth one?"

"I've been working on the ending for a year now…"

"Well, what's takin so long?" He asked as non-threatening as he could.

"Writer's block." She answered frowning.

"Maybe I can help. What's the story about?"

"A boy and a girl... Romantic feelings, cheating, misunderstandings... All the good stuff." Rachel paused, "Just... Not an ending... How do I end it...?"

"Maybe you can have the boy confess his feelings?" Gar asked, but Rachel shook her head.

"I forgot, it's supposed to be tragic." She said dryly.

"Oh. Well… I'm not sure I can help you with that. Maybe you can make it into a happy ending?"

"I don't do happy endings." She said. Gar rolled his eyes. If he had a penny every time she said, "I don't do ." He'd be filthy rich.

They sat there in silence for a while. Gar had planned to leave during the night and never be seen again by the Titans. He had a sinking feeling Dick would try to get them all back together again and he just wasn't ready for that yet. But what really surprised him was that Rachel had been thinking the same thing and they had run into each other on the roof. They both had the same thoughts running through their heads, would they ever do what they came up here to do?

"You know… What you did to Atlas… I saw you kill him."

"I know. I sensed you."

"Oh… Uh well, I've never seen you do that kind of move before." Gar said as she sat down on the edge of the Tower.

"You save up energy to release more energy."

"What?"

"Nevermind."

"Well you didn't _have_ to kill him though." Gar pressed.

"You liked it."

"I—I did not! Even criminals deserve a second chance…" Gar lied. In truth he really did like it when Rachel killed Atlas. If all the criminals were killed, they wouldn't have to fight anymore—the world would be a better place. But as a superhero, they were sworn to justice.

"Why were you always flinging objects at people and making force fields?" Garfield asked, "Why didn't you just kill them with that move them huh?"

"I didn't know I could do that before. That simple. And just so you know: 'flinging objects at people' is basic telekinesis. It's not something that you can kill someone with. Force fields are just for defense anyway."

"You could've killed Slade with that trick." Gar suggested.

"No I couldn't."

"Whatever. I don't get it." Gar shrugged it off.

"I wasn't expecting you to."

Garfield smiled, although Rachel couldn't see it, "There's the sarcastic Rachel we all know!"

It was Rachel's turn to shrug, "It's complicated demon stuff."

Gar just sat on the roof behind her watching how her hair moved when the wind brushed through it… How her coat rustled as it moved along the ground. Watching the city lights flicker and dance, and how the stars twinkled in the sky. Hearing the crickets chirp and the birds call each other was a welcome relief from the bustling city.

"Hey… I didn't notice, but the rain's stopped." Gar suddenly said. Rachel looked up at the sky, sure enough there wasn't a cloud in sight.

"What do you know? The day we leave and the sky clears up…"

Gar watched her, "You don't have to leave you know. I thought _I_ was the only one who was leaving…"

"Then how come you aren't going?"

The young zoologist thought hard, "Well… I wasn't expecting an audience… I just wanted to leave without having anyone see me. It'd be better for my conscience."

"Maybe you should change your mind?" Rachel suggested.

"What about you then?" Gar asked.

"Maybe the team needs us, now that Slade's back?" Rachel murmured ignoring Gar's last question.

"Hey, you didn't answer my question!"

"Then answer mine first." She said. Gar hated how Rachel was so good at mind games. He was about to use the 'well, I asked you first' excuse, but that wouldn't have worked.

"I'll change my mind if you change yours!" Gar exclaimed after searching for a good excuse.

"Then I guess we're both staying." Rachel said softly and got up. Only when she had opened the door leading back into the Tower did Gar realize what her decision meant.


	6. The One With The Rising Action

Camera 2: Lobby

As Dick explained how the Titans needed to cover the city while the Titans East recovered, Gar and Vic were at the breakfast table eating.

"So, we'll have to cover Gotham City _and _Steel City. Are you listening?" Dick yelled.

"Yeah yeah Dick, we heard ya three times already!" Gar yelled back in between bites of his artificial eggs and French toast. Dick was about to yell back something when Kori put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it telling him to shut up and eat. Rachel—as predicted—had already eaten earlier in the morning and was sitting on the sofa going over a magazine with Kori.

"So… I was thinking we all do a little training as a team since we're going to go after Slade…" Dick suggested.

Vic, Kori, and Gar groaned.

"What? I'll go easy on you guys!"

"Dude! That's not the point! It's like our vacation! We should be hangin out together! Not running around chasing your arch enemy!" Gar whined.

"This _is_ the first time we're together in fifteen years..." Rachel added.

"Yeah, man! And it's _finally_ stopped raining! Let's go enjoy the fresh air!" Vic put his two cents in.

"Stop being such a bad host Dick!" Kori reprimanded.

"Fine! But do you _really_ want to go out there with five thousand million people waiting to take a picture of you?" Dick asked. They nodded simultaneously. "Ugh… Fine fine, but one hour! One hour of training and that's it! Okay?"

The rest of the Titans groaned but agreed.

* * *

Camera 3: Gym and Medical Bay

"Alright, Vic, you can take the lifts. Kori try the target practice…"

"But Dick, I haven't touched these in years!" Kori whined.

"…Gar, you can take the tread mill. And Rachel, take the obstacle course." Dick ordered.

"What are _you_ going to do?" Rachel asked.

"Some shadow boxing, maybe hit the dummy a couple times…"

"When was the last time you updated the obstacle course?"

"Um… I'm not sure… About ten years ago?" Dick guessed.

Rachel lifted an eyebrow, "How about I spar with you instead?"

"Okay, sure! But I won't go easy on you!" Dick said as he got into his fighting stance, "And remember: no powers!"

* * *

Forty-five minutes later…

* * *

Dick was on the floor panting. Rachel hadn't even broken a sweat. She was standing over him, hands in her pockets.

Their leader groaned, "No one… saw that…"

Vic chuckled, no one except the _whole world_ was going to see that Rachel had just whooped Dick's butt _three_ times! He laughed again, his job was fun.

A green cheetah transformed and became Garfield, "Hey… Dudes! …Can we take a… water break… now?" He asked gasping for breath.

"Yes…" Dick from the floor, "Let's all take a water break."

"Okay, Rachel. No more funny business. Let's get serious!" Dick yelled. Being a man with a lot of pride he wasn't about to let someone beat him three times without losing at least once. The others opted to sit out and watch while Dick tried to protect his diminishing ego.

"I thought you _were_ serious the last three times." Rachel said. The stands roared with laughter. Dick's eyebrow twitched.

"Okay. Five minutes. No powers. Kori…!" He looked at her in the stands.

Kori nodded, "Ready… Set… Fight!"

Rachel stared at Dick, hands in her pockets as usual. He sprinted towards her right hand coiled ready to punch. She jumped to avoid it and used her right hand to redirect his punch downwards. Flipping over him she knocked him forward with a direct kick to the head.

Kori cringed in the stands as Gar and Vic cheered Rachel on. They wanted to see Dick get beaten for the millions of times he had beaten _them_ fifteen years ago.

Dick stumbled back into his stance and jumped up into the air with both feet hitting downward he missed and sprinted after her retreating form. Delivering a swift elbow to the gut he landed his first hit on Rachel. She countered by slamming her hand into his jaw sending him flying in the air. He softened the landing by rolling into an upright position. Glancing at the clock he saw: 03:24 only three and a half minutes left and the numbers just kept getting lower and lower. He'd have to finish her off quick.

Gar and Vic had seen Dick look at the clock and they yelled, "You better get her fast!", "Times runnin out!", and "Stop looking at the clock and look at your opponent!"

Rachel went in for the attack this time. Dick used a classic football technique to fake her and then he spun around tripping her off her feet. Rachel was tempted to levitate in mid-air but remembered the rules and let gravity bring her down. She landed on her feet and had to defend against the onslaught of Dick's martial artist attacks. He was quick but she managed to get out unscathed.

Vic started 'boo'ing Dick, and Gar soon joined him. Kori was yelling at them for not showing good sportsmanship.

Dick was sweating at looked at his cool, calm, and collected opponent.

"How can you be wearing a _coat_ at a time like this?" Dick asked.

"Shouldn't you be worried about _other_ things right now?" she answered.

Dick growled and tried to catch her off guard but only succeeded in getting himself backhanded.

Gar screamed, "He just got bitch slapped!" Vic sweat dropped (that would have to be censored before it went on air). Kori yelled out, "You got four minutes left!"

Rolling along the floor Dick got up and charged straight at Rachel, but at the last second he jukes her, spins around, and kicks her in the back. She senses it coming at the last second and catches his leg in mid-kick. Not strong enough to twist him off balance, she just swiped his other leg out from under him and leapt back, giving both of them some space. Picking himself up he tried a different approach.

Running towards her he rolled under her defensive kick and delivered his own kick upward—aimed at her chin. Barely dodging she moved her head to the side only getting a brief flood of air. Pushing his leg out of the way Rachel delivers the finishing blow to his gut with her elbow, slamming it down hard.

_That'll be a dent in his ego._ She smirks as he tries to ease the pain.

The clock reads 00:00 as Kori yells out, "Time!"

* * *

A change of perspectives…

* * *

"I _will_ crush the Teen Titans." Slade murmured in his darkened chair, "The Titans… It is already too late to be my apprentice Nightwing… That is a shame. But trust me, you and your _companions_… will be _dead _before they ever become your _team_."

"Slade… Why kill them now? We should have finished the job when they were apart." A voice asked from the shadows.

"You are a fool Brother Blood. Now is the perfect time. Now is when Nightwing's guard is weak, with so many distractions. I have a plan, do not worry." Slade said confidently.

"I thought I was your _partner_." Blood said disgustingly, "Partners tell partners their plans."

"Only idiots like you follow _those_ rules."

"But _we made a_ _deal_…" Blood seethed.

"Yes we did. Thank you for telling me, _partner_."

Blood glared at the back of his _partner's_ masked head, "You will fail Slade… Just like you did with all your other plans."

"_Silence_!" Slade roared.

Brother Blood flinched but calmed himself, "You are so caught up with the Titans. You should worry more about the _world_ domination."

"World domination takes time. First this city, then another. You can't just suddenly take over the world." Slade explained.

"You _had_ time. _Fifteen years_ of time! But you chose to spend that time making crazy inventions that you _yourself_ don't even know work! Like I said Slade… You and your foolish plans." Blood spat.

"Then you do not need to know about my _foolish_ plans." Slade said coolly. Brother Blood stood in silence and then left.

Down the hallway, out of sight, Brother Blood kicked the wall. His cybernetically enhanced limbs made a nice dent in the wall. There was a downside to becoming cybernetically enhanced… There was always a limit to his powers now. He could not push himself past his limits like before, and there was the hassle of always having to recharge. There were no more bodyguards—the H.I.V.E. was no more—thanks to the Teen Titans. All he had left was his _partner_—Slade.

"Even if you _do_ take down the Teen Titans… I'll take _you_ down." Brother Blood whispered softly to the dark and silent hall.

* * *

Camera 3: Gym and Medical Bay

"Damn, Rachel… That was _some_ fight." Dick choked out before collapsing into Kori's arms.

"I guess there's no use going outside when we have a crippled leader…" Vic sighed disappointed.

"Sorry guys…Give me a couple hours and I'll be fine." Dick said and moaned from the pain.

"Should I kiss your boo boos?" The redhead asked sweetly.

"Aren't we getting a little close to a married man, Kori?" Vic asked.

"Not even if _I'm_ the one married to him?"

"So _you're_ the anonymous wife? Heh. Figures." Vic shrugged. Kori looked back at Dick. He patted his stomach where Rachel's elbow had hit. She kissed it. He pointed to a large forming bruise on his cheek. She kissed it. He pointed to his lips and she was upon him before he had time to react.

"Hey Kori! I've got a boo boo!" Vic yelled and pointed to his ass. Dick shot him a look while Vic laughed.

"Dudes! Get a room!" Gar laughed.

"We already have one." Kori answered.

"Then use it." Rachel killed the mood.

"Want me to kiss your boo boos Rae?" Gar said without thinking. The room fell silent as the green man realized what he had said. Rachel seemed surprised but it was hard to tell.

"So you got over your grudge?" Vic asked slowly.

"What grudge?" Dick asked.

"The one where this little man wanted to rip you and Rachel's throats out."

"I didn't say it like that!" Gar defended himself.

"He's over it." Rachel said nonchalantly.

Gar smiled at Rachel who turned away and headed for her room. It was late anyway, and they needed their sleep.

* * *

Camera 2: Lobby

"Titans! Get your butts down here!" Nightwing's voice echoed throughout the Tower as the familiar alarm sounded waking everyone up from their slumber.

One by one each Titan scrambled in—save Rachel, who silently ghosted down from the ceiling.

"What's up man?" Cyborg asked their leader.

"What else? —Trouble. It's Adonis… More bank robbing. He's in the sewers. Get ready to get dirty Titans!"

Gar laughed.

"Get your head out of the gutter." Nightwing snapped.

"Man, I thought criminals like him and oh… like Jonny Rancid would've grown outta this crazy stuff already!" Vic whined.

"Oh, trust me, they're worse grown up." Nightwing said. Kori nodded in agreement. Vic sighed.

* * *

Camera 15: Cyborg's Eye

The Gotham City sewers were dark and damp. Not, completely dark—there were a few flickering lamplights. Rats? Check. Green clingy stuff? Check. Tons of criminals and psychos? Check. Dripping ceiling? Check. It was like a scene taken right out of a horror movie. The sewer opened up into a large room almost a cavern. There were various corridors of different size leading into the unknown. Adonis was most undoubtedly in one of them. The only question was—which one?

"Damn…" Nightwing muttered.

"What now?" Someone asked. The 'now now now' echoed off the creepy dripping walls.

"We should've brought our communicators." Nightwing sighed. Starfire put her hand on his shoulder as if to reassure him.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Cyborg slapped himself on his forehead.

"First priority: find Adonis." Raven said simply.

Beast Boy nodded, "She's right! Let's go!"

"Alright Titans! Our first real mission together—since the Titans East are out of commission—we'll spread out! Find Adonis and if you do, scream really loud! We'll all meet back here." Nightwing nodded and surveyed his makeshift team, "Titans, Go!"

* * *

_So… He's worse all grown up huh?_ Raven thought to herself, _Well, all I really remember is that he tried to hit on me… Ugh… What a fat ugly bastard._ She splashed through the murky sewer waters trying to pick up any emotions in the vicinity. _Seemed like Beast Boy has been trying to hit on me too… Great… Well, I guess it's my turn since Starfire took all the attention way back when. How old are these criminals now anyway? They must be in their forty's for god's sake. _Raven frowned and scanned the sewers. Beast Boy seemed to be tailing her again… Odd.

Her back straightened as she heard something out of place. The shadows were dark; there were no more lanterns… She didn't have starbolts to see with… She only had her senses. Her heightened hearing picked up something following her. Beast Boy or Adonis? Damn, Beast Boy making everything so complicated… She levitated off the water trying to stay as silent as possible. Something slammed into her skull. Raven gasped sharply as she summoned dark magic. She exhaled slowly… _It was just the stupid water on the stupid ceiling._ A faint 'drip drip drip' was heard bouncing off the walls and into the still water.

"Gods… I hate this." Raven whispered softly to herself. She continued flying high off the ground incase she ran into Adonis—she'd have a better advantage in the air. Would she scream if she found Adonis like Nightwing had asked everyone to? Hell no. _Personally_, she thought, _I can probably take down Adonis by myself anyways… Plus, I'll sense him before he even comes within shooting range._ But her doubts came steadily constantly telling her to teleport out of there and abandon the mission. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing straight up, the onslaught of goose bumps came, and the shadows seemed to take on their own shapes. She was beginning to turn back when something slammed into her side.

Something alive.

* * *

Camera 2: Lobby

"Are you happy _now_?" Brother Blood hissed.

"Actually, I am quite pleased." Slade said confidently, "You did good _partner._"

Blood snorted, "Breaking into Titans Tower without getting seen by the media was a miracle."

"As you know, I _am_ a miracle worker."

Blood rolled his eyes.

"Execute the next Phase of the plan." Slade ordered. Two Slade-bots nodded mechanically and took off with a funny looking contraption. Blood paced the small room. Stopping, he filtered through Nightwing's DVD racks and his CD's. Unsatisfied he went back to pacing—this time in a circle around the coffee table. Slade walked casually to Nightwing's usual spot and stood facing the television. The Slade-bots returned empty handed.

"Let's go." Slade said sharply, "Make sure the media doesn't catch our every move."

"Yes, yes. We wouldn't want _that_ now would we?" Blood scoffed as Victor's cameras caught their whole conversation on tape.

* * *

Camera 15: Cyborg's Eye

He punched in the numbers quickly.

"Dave? Hey Davis you there?" Vic breathed into the tiny flip phone.

"Look, I need to know if you're done with the first cut. Yeah… Uh huh. No, I'm uh… I'm in Hawaii right now. Right, right. No. Actually, I'm um… taking a tour. In a cave. Yeah, very dark. Okay, well did Andrew call you yet? Mmmm… A couple more days? Yeah okay… No, no I'll be back by then. Yeah, alright. Okay. Bye."

He snapped the phone shut.

"Great." He growled, "A couple days until the show airs! Crap… I don't have much time…I need something… Something big..."

He stood there, back against the wall and thought. And thought hard. He'd need to find that 'big push' he was thinking about earlier really soon or his plan would be going nowhere. If his plan went nowhere, the show would go no where, and if the show was going nowhere then the people would be going elsewhere, and if the people were going elsewhere, the store would be going downwards, and if the store would be going downwards… well, he might not have a job.

This wasn't for one man to think about by himself. He'd need back up. Outside influence…

"I'll have to call up Jinx." Vic said confidently as he corrected himself, remembering the name change. Her exact words were: "Robin to Nightwing. Beast Boy to Changeling, hell, it's like a fad, and I'm jumping on the band wagon!" Vic chuckled to himself, shaking his head at the memory, "I mean, _Hex_. I'll have to call up Hex…"


	7. The One With The Fight Over Lives & Love

Camera 15: Cyborg's Eye

"You grew your hair out. I like it." He breathed into her ear. Raven struggled beneath his grasp—squirming—trying to break free of his monstrous death grip. She felt an overwhelming sense of déjà vu…

"I uh… like your hair. You grew it out." Beast Boy said. Her back was to him, but she could sense nervousness pouring out all over him.

"_You got bangs… That's a new addition."_

The familiarity of Adonis' armor suit was shocking. The same shade of red and the same scrawny little man behind it. He looked younger than her—give or take a few years.

_Why hadn't she seen him coming?_ She thought as panic started to settle in. She was trapped. His right hand was around her mouth, and throat, his full body suit was digging into her back—hard cold rock on one side and a perverted psycho bank robber on the other. His left hand held both her hands firmly behind her back along with the bulging bag of loot.

"It's good to see you again babe… I was lonely without you…" He crooned into her ear. She shivered. He proceeded to tie her wrists together with an unknown substance.

"You're mine now babe… Without your _mantra_…" Adonis said as Raven's face went from panicked to shocked, "I looked it up… It called a "_mantra_". Without it, you're nothing but one harmless sexy little lady."

Raven closed her eyes concentrating… Building up magic… The air became thick with a fine black mist.

"Yeah… That's right baby… Just relax… Relax… I've got something here that'll help calm you down. It's called pressure points… I learned it in the fifteen years two months one week three hours five minutes and eight seconds that we've been apart…"

As Adonis put the same unknown substance over Raven's mouth to prevent her from speaking, she willed her concentration to focus. It was hard not thinking things like, "What a psycho!" "Crazy lunatic!", or "Perverted stalker!" And many years of meditation helped her block everything out and left her in a world of peace and quiet.

Suddenly a green blur knocked Adonis up and away from Raven. Adonis skidded across the ground bouncing a couple times before resting at the far corner of the sewers in muddy waters. The green rhinoceros transformed back into Beast Boy who instantly ran over to Raven.

"Raven? Raven? Are you okay?" He asked desperation clearly evident in his voice, "Raven please tell me he didn't…"

Raven's back was to him. Her eyes closed, she was far too deep in the trance that she didn't answer him.

"Oh no…" Beast Boy clutched his head mistaking Raven's silence as an answer, "He did didn't he? He did… He did… Oh god, he did! What have I done? I came too late! I should have known he'd go after you first! Why? Why did I wait so long? Why? Oh god why?"

Adonis was recovering as Beast Boy paced frantically around yelling at himself.

"Raven I—I'm sorry! I knew I should've—" Beast Boy was cut short as Adonis struck him in his shoulder from behind.

"Get away from my girl!" Adonis yelled to the wobbly changeling.

"She's not _your_ girl!" The green man yelled back finding it his job to speak for Raven since her "traumatic" experience.

"Do you _want_ her more?" Adonis sneered. Beast Boy was in shock—He wasn't prepared on what to say or what Raven would think.

"I—I do! I _want_ her!" Beast Boy screamed with all his might. Adonis growled. They leapt into the air, colliding head on. Beast Boy's new shape—a very large, very angry grizzly roared in Adonis' face.

"I've learned something new teddy bear!" Adonis yelled. He grinned and put his index and middle finger together in a point. As Beast Boy neared him he struck out and jabbed his hand towards Beast Boy's shoulder. His attack didn't draw blood; instead it took on a different effect.

"What the—?" The green man yelled out in surprise. His shoulder suddenly became limp and hung uselessly at his side. "What did you do?"

"As I was telling my _lover _over there…" Adonis explained as Beast Boy sneered, "…It's called pressure points. Your arm is paralyzed… And this next one will knock you out completely!"

The changeling was worried. His right arm had been taken out of commission entirely. He vaguely remembered reading something about pressure points in his various comic books and video games. They involved hitting veins that lied over a bone and that resulted in loss of consciousness, loss of breath, paralyzation, or internal damage. This was his first time actually experiencing it in real life.

Beast Boy ducked as Adonis barely missed his neck. Spinning around he jabbed his hand into Beast Boy's chest. Although it felt like a bomb had gone off in his heart he remained standing.

All the while, the black mist around them was slowly becoming thicker.

* * *

Camera 15: Cyborg's Eye

Nightwing had came to a dead end, turned around, and was coming back to the meeting point when he thought he had heard something. Something like _fighting_… It sounded like a big boom, but maximized by the echoing throughout the sewers.

Reaching the meeting point he spotted Starfire.

"Nightwing!" She exclaimed, "I came to a dead end, what about you?"

"Same here. But I thought I heard something… Did you hear anything?"

"I thought I did, but I'm more convinced now that someone else has heard it…"

"Great, well… Which way do you think it was coming from?" Nightwing asked quickly. The Tamaranean took off in the opposite direction—Nightwing right behind her.

* * *

As he took a step everything hit him full force. He collapsed on the floor breathless, eyes wide full of panic.

"Well don't look so scared… I want you to see everything I do, since you _wanted her more_…" Adonis laughed menacingly.

Beast Boy noticed the ground was full of a thick black mist… And before he lost consciousness—he thought he saw Nigthwing and Starfire.

Adonis had one hand on Raven when he was suddenly struck in the ribs for the second time that day. A batarang. So predictable. His metal ripped right through Raven's cloak leaving her 'exposed' for the first time since the Reunion.

"What have you done to my teammates Adonis!" Nightwing's voice echoed throughout the room.

"Get lost pipsqueak!"

Starfire flew to Beast Boy and crouched down next to him when she spotted a strange black mist floating along the ground. Suddenly it was almost as if the mist was alive as it moved steadily towards Raven. Starfire's eyes went wide.

"Nightwing! Get away from him!"

But it was too late.

* * *

A change of perspectives…

* * *

"Honey! I'm home!" Nick yelled out as he entered their one story house.

"Nick! Get over here! I want you to see something!" His wife—Sam yelled back.

"Alright alright I'm coming…" He yawned. His best friend—Garfield—had disappeared on him the day Titans Tower "reopened".

He and his wife liked to call it "The Reunion". There were so many people crowding around that day that Nick didn't even get to see much except the Tower itself… And that wasn't much of a reward; you could see the thing from almost anywhere.

"Nick! Hurry! It's going to be over soon!" Sam yelled again. Nick jogged over to the couch. He hadn't gotten any sleep since yesterday since he stayed up all day in the crowds huddled around the docks.

He plopped down on the fluffy white couch. Sam was staring intently on the TV screen stationed in front of her.

"Turn it up."

"The latest on the Teen Titan's Fifteen year Reunion: This here is Nightwing—leader of the Teen Titans." A news reporter said happily shoving her microphone with the number seven emblazoned on it in Nightwing's face.

"Whoa, they're having a report on it already?" Nick exclaimed, "Is this live or what?"

"No of course not, but they do this so that sensible people like me, don't have to go through all the trouble of sleeping in a car staying up all night blah blah blah."

Nigthwing waved to the cameraman. Hundreds of fan girls screamed in the background. "Uh… We're not actually a 'Team' yet. We're still officially disbanded."

"So…" The news reporter went on, "Will the Titans get back together?"

"No. We're still officially disbanded." Nightwing sighed and repeated his rehearsed answer for the hundredth time that day.

"I see, I see…" The lady nodded her head. "May I ask: Who is your wife?"

Nightwing sighed.

"Just like everyone else out there—I think we'd like to get to the point—straight and simple—who is it?"

"Well…" Nightwing began; everyone seemed to lean in to catch every last word, "Well… She's a she."

"Um… Please mister Nightwing sir, can you please elaborate a little more on that?"

"No. That rules out half the population on this planet, that should satisfy you all!"

A big man with a microphone colored in the number four shouted out, "Will we be expecting a Nightwing Jr. anytime soon?"

"No more questions about my wife!" Nightwing roared, "Or my personal life!"

"Man that must suck." Nick sighed.

"Poor Nightwing." Sam said.

* * *

Camera 15: Cyborg's Eye

Adonis and Nightwing were swept up into a flood of darkness, like hot metal suddenly doused with cold water, it hardened around them encasing them in a block of living black magic.

Beast Boy's mind clicked when it heard something crack. Like glass breaking—something big—cracking. Starfire heard it too; she knew Raven was losing control… losing it completely. One more tiny move and the whole thing would break—just like Atlas. Into a million pieces.

Nightwing along with it.

"Beast Boy! Beast Boy! Get up!" Starfire yelled as she tried to rouse him of his unconsciousness. It was no use he was out cold. Spinning around she contemplated whether she should try to seal the cracks with her lasers and wait for Cyborg to show up or try and knock Raven out of her trance.

Another ear splitting crack hastened her decision.

Flying full speed, she hit Raven head on with a powerful right hook. Another crack… Raven seemed still lost in her unmoved state.

"Cyborg!" Starfire yelled and cursed the tin man for not being here when the team really needed him. She flew back to Beast Boy and gave his clammy green face a good couple slaps. "Wake up! Raven needs you!"

Firing off her lasers from her eyes Starfire succeeded in mending together some of the cracks just like she had done fifteen years ago, mending steel bars and the like. But this was different. She had assumed Raven had gotten her powers under control in the years they were apart… apparently, she was wrong. Even the one time she got to experience Raven's emotional control for the first time when the Puppet King switched them, she was so impressed at how rigid Raven's mental control was. Being in her body for only a couple hours, it was a fluke and a coincidence that she had gotten Raven's powers to work right then and there. Starfire had never really been in a battle between her friend, or her lover.

She had little time to think—more cracks kept coming. Raven was losing it—inch by inch.

"Cyborg!" Starfire screamed again. "Cyborg! Where are you! I need your help!"

Silence.

Crack.

"Cyborg!" Starfire screamed at the top of her lungs desperately trying to stop Raven's mad attack. As if a great god were watching over them and made a miracle happen—Cyborg appeared.

"Star! What's going on?" Cyborg asked trying to act dumb. He knew exactly what was going on, but Hex had taken a while to pick up her phone and was reluctant to help without a hefty reward. Even _if_ it involved the Titan's lives.

"Beast Boy's out cold! Raven's out of control!" Starfire yelled in response.

"I've got something that might help Beast Boy!" Cyborg yelled and popped open a compartment on his leg. He carefully took out a tiny pill. Hex had told him to break it under Beast Boy's nose and he'll come around. Fortunately Hex wasn't lying and Beast Boy was soon groaning, moaning, and slipping in and out of consciousness.

"Beast Boy! Man can you hear me?" Cyborg asked.

"Hurry!" Starfire yelled as she struggled against the strain her lasers were putting her through.

"Beast Boy! Garfield!"

BEAST BOY!

Beast Boy!

Beast Boy.

…beast boy…

And her voice faded in and out of darkness.


	8. The One With The Denied Denials

He opened his eyes groggily… Where was he? A palace filled with white marble and stone, and a pure blue sky above his head… But what was missing? A battle between life or death. Now he remembered. But his legs wouldn't move, his chest wouldn't rise, his limbs would not obey. All he wanted was to stay here. In this place. With the sky.

How free one could be if they could travel the skies.

Then why do birds land? Do they not like the freedom god blessed them with…?

Is it because they have an attachment to this world? To the land? Just as he is with this one special person… …

But he does not understand. Can't they sever these silly attachments? But he asks himself this question—could he? And he answers: no. No he could not. Then now he knows. Now he knows every time Beast Boy becomes a hawk, an eagle, a raven… Why he must always leave the freedom of the skies, and land back down here on earth.

* * *

Camera 15: Cyborg's Eye

"He's slipping!" Cyborg yelled to Starfire. The water sent up torrents of waves splashing everyone within a certain area. The debris falling off Raven concoction swirled around in the air for moment before plunging in the depths of the water.

"I can't take it much longer!" the red head screamed back, "You're going to have to think of something!"

"Like what?"

"Oh yes! Ask the person who's _a bit_ busy right now!" Starfire sneered.

"What if I tell him a joke?" Cyborg wondered out loud.

"Like when we faced Mad Mod?"

"Yeah!" Cyborg yelled.

"Why not? Just hurry!"

"Beast Boy… Um… Why is six afraid of seven?" Cyborg stumbled around trying to remember the ending to the joke, "Because seven eight nine!"

Beast Boy's face remained unchanged. Cyborg slapped him and his face cringed a little but formed into a smile when Beast Boy couldn't contain his laughter any longer. Beast Boy snapped his eyes open laughing. "That was a lame joke!"

"Beast Boy!" Starfire exclaimed happily.

"Whoa…" Beast Boy looked around at the chaos, "What is going on?"

"Raven's lost control, you gotta wake her up!" Cyborg hurridly explained.

"What? Why me?"

"Just do it! Tell a joke or something!" Cyborg pushed him towards Raven. Stumbling over the ground Beast Boy made it to Raven who seemed still in her trance. He fumbled around with his words for a moment before picking a joke to tell.

"Hey Rae—Knock knock!"

The trio waited for an answer. Cyborg felt like slapping himself.

"You idiot!" Cyborg yelled, "Don't tell a knock knock joke!"

"Oh right!" Beast Boy nodded, "Okay, um… Oh! Here's one: do you believe in love at first sight?"

"Is it working?" Starfire yelled. Cyborg shushed her.

"No?" Beast Boy struck a pose, "Then let me walk by you again, babe!"

This time Cyborg really did slap himself.

* * *

A change of perspectives…

* * *

Mr. Davis greeted the man and sat down opposite him.

"So." The other man grunted, "Where's Mr. Stone?"

"He won't be meeting with us today sir."

"And may I ask why not?"

"He called in for a very unnoticed vacation break almost a couple days ago."

"Ah… Well… Can't be helped." the man said, "So, down to business. You know this is very last minute."

"What is sir?" Mr. Davis asked.

"Robomania's new show… You haven't even had barely any time to advertise it!"

"We know sir, but we promise you we won't let XYZFamily down."

"I hope so…" the man sighed.

"It airs officially around the next couple days doesn't it?" Mr. Davis asked.

"Hmm… Two days to be precise."

"Well, here is the paperwork and a plan of the show." Mr. Davis handed the man a manila folder.

"Alright…" he grunted, "The Teen Titans Fifteen-year Reunion: Inside Scope will officially air in the next two days."

* * *

Camera 15: Cyborg's Eye

Beast Boy ran back to Cyborg and Starfire satisfied that Raven wasn't going to spring awake anytime soon.

"Dudes! It's not working!" he yelled.

"You were supposed to tell a _joke_! Not a pick up line!" Starfire screamed angrily.

"Okay… I've got another idea… Why don't you try kissing her." Cyborg said nonchalantly. Starfire laughed until tears swelled in her eyes.

"_What_?" Beast Boy's mouth dropped. "_Where_ did you get _that_ idea?"

"Uh… I don't know." Cyborg lied but smiled inside. It was all Hex's ingenious idea.

"No way man, I'm _not _kissing her!"

"Yes you are! There's no other possible way to do it! It's sort of like… You know, in fairy tales and stuff. Where the beautiful fair maiden is turned to stone or something and you gotta kiss her to save her!"

"Well, she's not turned to stone!"

"If she was, would you do it?" Cyborg asked seriously. Beast Boy didn't have an answer.

"This would be really funny and all if we weren't in this situation, but… Will you two _shut up and do something_ already! The cracks are starting to quicken, and I'm losing energy!" Starfire screamed.

"You heard the woman! Hurry Beast Boy!" Cyborg pushed him toward Raven.

"No!" Beast Boy strengthened his resolve and ran back, "Why don't _you _kiss her?"

"I can't!"

"Why not?" the green man asked now knowing what he had to do regardless… But that didn't mean he wasn't going to put up a decent fight.

Cyborg was getting annoyed and was tempted to say, "Because _I_ don't love her _you_ do!" But he shook his head. It would be too soon. "I just _can't_—ask Starfire!"

"Star!" the changeling turned to Starfire, "Why can't Cyborg kiss Raven?"

She thought about the question for a while. How would she answer this? Her muscles twitched telling her for the hundredth time that day she was losing strength. "Because he just… He just _can't_!" Starfire grunted.

"I don't get it!" Beast Boy yelled.

"Just do it!" Cyborg and Starfire said in unison tired of his whining.

"Fine!" Beast Boy finally said in defeat, "But only for the sake of justice and Nightwing and Adonis's lives! This does _not_ mean I have _any_ feeling toward—"

"Do it!" Starfire cut him off. Her face looked halfway between laughing and screaming.

The green man slowly made his way to Raven and bit his lip.

"Okay…" He took a deep breath, "Raven… Please don't hate me." He murmured and crashed his lips against hers.


	9. The One With The Camera

Camera 15: Cyborg's Eye

He felt like fire as his cheeks flushed bright red right through his green and then beige skin. How he had waited forever for this moment… It felt like hours just standing there—bodies so close… His lips pressed right up there against hers. Starfire's screams from the pressure and Cyborg's yelling faded away as all Beast Boy could concentrate on were this moment—caught forever in time (and tape). He didn't want to pull away… He didn't want to pull away…

"_Want some tofu?" "No." "Then what do you want?" "Tea would be nice." "I won this for you!" "A giant chicken… I must be the luckiest girl in the world." "I didn't know Raven played with her hair…" "Dude, I wouldn't touch that!" "It's a portal into my mind!" "Dude! Raven—chill!" "Where'd he send you?" "The gym." "I hate you, Raven!" "Good riddance!" "Don't talk to me anymore you bitch!" "What grudge?" "He's over it."_

…_Raven and Beast Boy? You're talking about a whole new ballpark._

Beast Boy pulled away sucking in some much needed air. He gasped. It seemed like his whole life had flashed before his eyes. Whoever said that only happens when you die was a liar. Even five feet away from Raven, he could still feel her lips upon his. As a unconscious action he was implied to touch the tingling it left behind. It was a first kiss… For them both.

The sewers came whirling back to him snapping him from his dream-like state. Starfire was running to Nightwing's side as Cyborg dismantled Adonis. _So… Everything's okay?_ Beast Boy's fleeting thoughts ran circles in his head, _What about… What about Raven?_

He blanked out before he hit the ground.

* * *

Camera 3: Gym and Medical Bay

"Gee… It seems we've been coming back here a lot lately." Richard commented the situation. Kori fussed over his minor wounds as Vic checked out the security monitors. "What happened anyway?"

"I just _told_ you!" Kori whined, "Did you lose your memory too now?"

"No. Can't you repeat it one more time please?"

She sighed, "Fine. But only because you asked nicely." Her smile brought a cocky grin out of him. "Rachel… Got a little P.O.'d when Adonis tried to hit on her. And well… She lost control when she tried to overly kill him."

"Kill him?" Dick exclaimed shocked.

"No no," Kori waved her hand around to fan away Dick's assumption, "She wasn't planning to kill him… I hope." Kori muttered quietly. "But anyway! You know that's not the point, she didn't even harm you! And Beast Boy helped!"

"Oh yeah, I remember that, you told me that part."

"Ugh! Dick, you said you wanted me to repeat it!"

"Fine! Repeat it!" Dick said a little angrily.

"Well, too bad now!" Kori said steaming.

"Hey hey, quiet ya'll!" Vic popped his head through the door, "We got patients here ya know."

Dick stole a glance at his wife, but she was already heading for the exit. Gar groaned loudly and tilted his head up. As soon as Gar noticed Dick and Kori were gone he sighed and shrank back down onto the soft pillows of the Med Bay. Staring at the ceiling, he contemplated on the recent events. Truth be told, he was actually awake for over an hour listening to the other Titan's conversations.

Surprisingly Kori and Vic had kept Dick in the dark—not telling him Gar's (now biggest) secret.

He sighed again. Why did he even _do_ it? Because Vic told him to? To save Nightwing? Or was it really because he loved Rachel? His fingers found their way to his lips again. What was this feeling? He couldn't stop thinking about her… His thoughts just kept drifting back to that moment…

Why?

He resolved to start with getting out of this bed first. But he wouldn't look at her. Gar knew exactly where she was—in the bed right next to him. And… How should he say this? Coat-less. She had a plain dark purple tank top on underneath, but that didn't stop him from blushing. Fuck Adonis for ripping her coat off.

The metallic whoosh of the automatic sliding door was heard as Vic rushed into the Med Bay.

"Vic?" Gar said suddenly and jerked up.

"Yo B! Are you all right? When did you wake up?"

"Um… Not long ago… Five minutes at the max." Gar lied.

"You should lay down man…" Vic suggested. Gar nodded and did as he was told.

"You know Vic…"

"Yeah."

"I was just wondering… If the Titans get back together…" Gar sighed, "Will I have to quit my job and move in here and everything?"

Vic was silent for a moment. How should he know? To his co-workers, he was on a nice vacation somewhere in Hawaii. The pay was nicer as a superhero, and the benefits were great too… But it was as Rachel had said fifteen years ago: They were just getting too old. By now, he would've considered himself married and with kids. Starting a family—not a team. To his realization Vic had never actually thought about it. He had never really thought about what he was going to do after he had gotten a stable job and climbed to a high position. What _was_ he going to do? He shook his head, right now he had a television show to tape and distractions weren't part of the plan.

"I don't know Gar. Really. I don't know."

They both sat there thinking… About their lives, their futures, their pasts… But it was interrupted by a soft groan from the other bed. Gar immediately shot up to see who it was—even though subconsciously he already knew—and shot back down after realizing what he was doing. He grabbed the pillow from under his head and smashed it into his face trying to block out any light and noise. Vic looked at Gar strangely but knew better than to tease him.

Rachel groaned again.

"How do you feel?" Vic asked her.

She shook her head, "Like shit."

"Want anything?" Vic asked, "Food… Water… Pills…?"

She shook her head. She was silent for a while and without looking over she asked, "Why is Garfield blushing?" Gar pressed the pillow further into his face.

"Um… I don't know." Vic said nonchalantly. He snatched the pillow out of Gar's hands revealing only what Gar was trying to hide.

"What was that for?" Gar whispered.

"Stop pressing the pillow into your face!" Vic said and then in a softer voice he asked, "Why are we whispering?"

"Because I don't want," Gar jerked his head toward Rachel, "To hear me!"

"What do you mean?" Vic whispered.

"What do you mean, what do I mean?" Gar whispered back angrily.

"I can still hear you—if that's what you mean." Rachel answered.

* * *

Camera 9: Roof

Dick's spikey hair rustled softly in the light breeze. He watched the endless ocean churn in small circles and crash about the shore. He turned around as he heard the rooftop door open and close.

"So this where you've been?" Vic said. Dick nodded.

"Yeah… It's really peaceful up here. I never really thought about it… Aside from the occasional storm or something, it's nice up here." Dick commented.

"That's why every building's got one _Nightwing_." Vic said a little sarcastically. Dick nodded again.

"Well, now I know why Rachel used to come up here a lot…"

"Yup. This sure was her favorite place to be." Vic said.

"So…" Dick started, "How's life? Doing good?"

"Mmm Hmm. Still trying to pick up a girl… Not so much luck." The metal man sighed.

"Eh. You'll find someone someday." Dick reassured him, "I mean, look how long it took Kori and I. Now that's long."

Vic snorted and rolled his eyes, "You're telling me."

* * *

Camera 13: Raven's Room

Rachel landed on her old bed unceremoniously. Soaking up the old scents were like soaking up the past. After the awkward chat in the Med Bay, Gar had offered to take her to her room but she had declined and now regretted having him here to talk to.

Why?

What did she deserve to have go through this guilt again? This was only supposed to happen in your teens! She was always the one who said no to _everything_… And yet, was always the one who said yes in their heart. She sighed. What did she want? For Gar to come and visit her or something? She shook her head. No, that wasn't it. When Rachel wants something—Rachel goes and gets it.

The door was closed and the curtains shut tight. Lights were off, no night light, no nothing... Save the few strands that managed to make it past the window curtains. Almost everything was exactly as she had left it fifteen years ago.

So was _that_ it Robin? To make each and every one of us come back to this tower and reminisce? Is _that_ it? She was a bit angry with him. Why not clean out the rooms and make it into something else? Another gym perhaps? Storage closet? Game room? Why leave it the way it was? …Why Robin? And why go change your name and not your home? Why?

Rachel rolled over groaning. Too many questions to be answered in too little a time. Another five minutes and she had more questions pouring in left and right.

When would she go? Tonight maybe? Tomorrow? The day after that? Never…? Ever since Gar had intercepted her departure on the roof, she was always wondering when she would go. It was only natural. Then would she follow him? Follow Garfield. When he goes, she goes. But what if he stays—forever? Would she too?

Rachel moved her bangs out of her face revealing her trademark charka. How long she had kept it hidden from the world… How long she had kept these questions hidden… And more.

And what was up with Gar today? After the fight with Adonis it was painfully obvious something was up. Gar kept trying to avoid her gaze... avoid eye contact. Wait-no, scratch that, he wouldn't even _look_ at her. At _all_ hardly! Well, she'd find out sooner or later.

Her eyes wander the ceiling counting the dots like stars. The dull light that shone through the curtains wavered slightly. There was only one solution: To answer most of her questions she'd need to find a certain someone. And that certain someone would probably be in the lobby eating tofu at this moment.

"What a pain." She mutters quietly before getting up and opening the door to the hallway.

* * *

Camera 5: Elevator

As Rachel stepped into the elevator, she caught Kori rounding the corner. In a light sprint, the redhead joined Rachel in the confined space.

"What floor?" Rachel asked.

"One." Kori answered, "You?"

"Two."

"The Lobby huh? Hungry?" Kori asked once the elevator doors closed shut.

"No." Rachel said curtly and added softly, "I mean…not really."

"Giving people a slightly different answer that means the same thing…" Kori paused, "That won't change anything you know." Rachel sighed. Powers or no, Kori could see right through her.

"What do you want me to say then?" She asked turning away to break eye contact.

"I don't know." Kori shrugged, "Why don't you ask _him_?" She smiled as the elevator stopped upon reaching the Lobby. Rachel scowled and muttered something incoherent knowing exactly who she was referring to.

* * *

Camera 2: Lobby

As Rachel stepped into the Lobby she spotted Gar. He wasn't eating tofu, he wasn't playing Game Station, and he wasn't reading comic books… He was resting—peacefully—on the couch no less. She silently walked up to him leaning over the back of the couch to get a better look—still amazed he could _ever_ be _silent_.

What?

Rachel shook her head, chastising herself for assuming fifteen years worth of life. Why _should_ Gar still be the same as he was back then? She shouldn't assume such things… And yet she did. Why? Because she was still tied to the past that she can't get rid of no matter how hard she tried? Then let her assume… Let her assume.

As Rachel was deep in thought, Gar smelled someone in the room. Almost jumping at the sight of Rachel right in front of him—staring straight at him no less—he almost screamed. How he managed to keep a cool composure even he himself didn't know.

"Hey… Rachel?" Gar asked having not moved an inch. She didn't move. She seemed to be concentrating on something far off into the distance even though she was standing right here… Right in front of him. His cheeks flush red remembering the last time they were so close… Why can't he forget that moment? That moment he was waiting for the whole time…?

"Rachel?" He asked again this time a bit louder. She blinked twice but didn't seem surprised to see him.

"Hey."

"Umm… What are you doing here?"

"To talk I guess." She shrugged.

"What about?" Gar answered silently dreading that it wasn't about what happened back with Adonis. If she did ask, he wouldn't know exactly what to say—if he should lie.

Rachel pondered over Kori's words, "Gar… Do you think? Do you think I've changed…?"

"What?" Gar was taken aback, "You? Changed? Um… Well, you sure _look_ different. But it's the inside that counts right?"

"…Right." Rachel sighed. She looked towards the window with that same gaze she had when she was looking at him.

"Are you… Okay?" Gar said a little embarrassed, he couldn't shake the thought of dragging a mentally ill Rachel back to her room getting blank stares the whole way there.

"No." She answered curtly. And he nodded slowly just letting her think and sort things out by herself. She didn't need Gar to say anything or do anything... She only needed him.

"Um… I'm sorry about your coat, you know, Adonis doesn't have any manners." Gar laughed, "He doesn't know that when you rip off someone's jacket, you don't have to literally _rip_ it off!" Rachel eyed him strangely, but she couldn't catch his eyes… It was as if he was avoiding her gaze.

She sighed, "It's okay, I can live without it."

"Oh, well, you know, if you want I could get you another one."

"No thanks, I'm fine… Really." She replied. The only reason Gar had pushed to buy her another one, was that he couldn't ever look at her again without it—he'd start blushing even harder… Something he didn't want her to see. They sat in silence together until Rachel broke the tension.

"So… I haven't changed at all…" Rachel mused to herself out loud. Gar chose not to answer incase whatever he said was interpreted wrong. Gar waited for Rachel to leave but gave up after the next ten minutes, and she stayed there until Gar was comfortable enough to eventually fall asleep again.

* * *

Camera 7: Center Hallway

Vic caught Rachel in the hallway. She had just come back from visiting Gar and was heading back to her room when Vic stopped her.

"Hey Rachel, I haven't talked to ya since we got here."

"Yeah…" Rachel said not really paying much attention.

"You know, we never used ta talk much."

"Yeah I know!" Rachel snapped back on accident.

"A-Are you busy or something? Because I can leave you alone if you want…" Vic said uneasily.

"No… it's fine, I'm just thinking." She said quickly to avoid conflicts. To the normal eye, she wasn't doing much, but her head was spinning from the last half an hour she had spent watching Gar and the clouds outside.

"Geez, you haven't changed a bit—always thinking." Vic laughed and passed her by, "See ya around!"

She didn't bother to wave back and instead resumed her trek back to her room, this time in a much faster pace.

* * *

Camera 13: Raven's Room

Back in her own safe security Rachel rushed to the window, pushing back the curtains and basking in the fading sunlight. She collapsed on her old bed briefly forgetting all that had happened up to now. Gar was right… She hadn't changed at all. At least not on the inside… Why she had questioned herself she didn't know. She was grateful she had more control over her powers—if not, she would've been a walking tornado for the last couple of hours. The fact that she had harnessed her powers meant she changed right?

"What do _I_ want?" Rachel asked to the empty room.

She cursed herself quietly. The other Titans hated the person she was, but did they accept her now that she had changed? But according to Gar and Victor, she _hadn't_ changed at all. She would wait and see. Flopping down on the purple bed (that matched her hair), she stared at the ceiling just as she had done with Gar and the ever-moving clouds.

Something strange caught her eye. Why she hadn't noticed it before was probably because it was so tiny and blended in with the ceiling. The sunlight from the window had bounced off the thing straight into her eye.

"What is that…?" she asked herself. Standing up on her bed she wasn't tall enough to reach it. It was very tiny and hard to grasp. Summoning her levitation powers and pulling at it slightly she managed to get it off the wall taking some of the paint with it. Examining it more closely she could see now it was _very_ small… Almost as big as one's fingernail. If it wasn't for the sun reflecting it into her eyes she might not have caught it. But what _was_ it?

After a while Rachel came to a conclusion, "A… Camera…?"


	10. The One With The Stairs

Notes: Some revisions were made to some of the chapters. Just the city names. I now know that the Teen Titans fight crime in Gotham. Since I suppose Batman lives with the Justice League now.

* * *

Camera 12: Starfire's Room

The door handle clicked slightly and Kori jumped. Vic popped his head through followed by Rachel.

"Finally." Dick sighed, "We've been wondering when you'd get back!"

"Sorry ya'll."

"We found some great information!" Kori exclaimed.

"Right, it was actually Atlas who made the bubble, it was only Slade who encased us in it!" Dick explained.

"What a genius." Rachel said emotionlessly.

"But we still don't know _why_…" Gar butted in.

"Yeah, well before we get on with that, Rachel and I have some bad news." Vic said slowly.

"What?" someone asked.

"Slade's not in the city." Rachel said bluntly, "He's in the Tower."

* * *

A change of perspectives…

* * *

After Slade had gotten all his weapons stashed in the right places, and had reprogrammed the Slade-bots, he had activated the device. The "shield" (or bubble) had sprung up as planned. He was wary of the only two that could possibly sense his presence—Beast Boy and Raven. But he had no trouble at all activating the device. Stealing the original from Atlas was just a piece of cake, changing the size and shape of the thing took a lot more work. And it took even longer for Slade to get the shield to be so big and the device so small. Of course it took time and money—both of which Slade had _lots_ of. Unfortunately he couldn't change the color of the damn thing and so it remained orange instead of Slade's much more preferred color: black or even better—transparent.

He was hidden in the Tower's shadow and the early morning darkness. He scoffed remembering Blood's refusal to come and aid him. The coward didn't want anything to do with the plan and kept ranting on and on about how Slade would fail. He spit in the grass. Fail? Him? Impossible. The idiot would always be an idiot he supposed.

It would take another hour or so for his weapons to boot up—a glitch—something even he couldn't fix. He should have had Blood do this part, but Blood wouldn't cooperate. He'd have to remind himself to kill the bastard once he got back.

Once his weapons were up and ready, Slade crept silently through the Titan's lawn and into the Tower Entrance. Off to the side of the entrance there was a hidden panel that opened up into the Titan's main electricity controls. Slamming his hand into the damn thing took no effort at all and he watched as a light in the Tower's far upper room slowly fizzled out. The Tower was completely encased in the morning darkness. Slade laughed to himself silently, they were so predictable. He had expected them to notice that a strange bubble was surrounding their Tower. Oh well, _this_ would certainly get their attention.

Quickly taking out another small device he planted it into the wall and another bubble sprang up around the crackling controls.

Smiling wickedly, he crept up the stairs to the long trek to Starfire's Room.

* * *

Camera 12: Starfire's Room

The light fizzled, then blanked out.

Rachel jumped slightly, but overall, kept her cool. She was used to the darkness, having lived and bathed in it since birth. She was a living creature from Hell, why _shouldn't_ she be afraid of the dark? Of course, this didn't apply to everyone else in the room… Their so-called Leader was cursing, scrambling around for a flashlight while Kori and Gar screamed their heads off. Vic was busy—no doubt—checking his hidden cameras before Dick found the flashlight. Screaming like little babies? Rachel didn't think so. This was an adult situation, and would be handled in an adult-like way—

"Quiet!" Rachel yelled, silencing the room all at once as a faint light flickered on. The small light shined on each Titan as if checking they were still there before resting on the ceiling.

"Don'tcha think that flashlight's kinda small?" Vic asked raising an eyebrow as he eyed the flashlight Dick had found.

"Sorry, Kori only _has_ this one." He replied pointing to the bright purple kiddie flashlight with cute little tulips painted on the side. He was referring to Star's starbolts and how she could use them when there was no light.

"Can someone get the light back on?" Gar asked. Vic popped open a light on his right shoulder and a compartment on his left arm. He frantically punched in a code and frowned at the outcome. Typing in the password again, he received the same answer.

"Sorry B," He said, "looks like someone took out the main controls… I can't get into the system… Someone musta really fried it."

Kori's glowing green light joined with the flashlight's, "Should we… Um… Go check it out then?"

"Erm… Have you forgotten that _Slade _is down there?" Gar refreshed her memory. Clearly fifteen years still hadn't rid him of Slade nightmares.

"How do you know he's not up here?" Rachel muttered, which didn't help the situation at all. Goosebumps crawled over many a skin before Dick broke the silence.

"Let's _all_ go." He reassured them, "We'll have an advantage in numbers, and we'll be able to watch each other's backs."

Kori nodded quickly followed by Gar, shakily.

"Wait ya'll." Vic walked over to Rachel. She moved out of the way, watching him all the while. His metal hand grasped the automatic door and pulled. Unusual the sensor hadn't gone off to open the door automatically, but it must have been wired into the Tower's main controls. The same thought went through each Titan's minds—the doors didn't work—none of the electronics did.

"So the doors…" Gar trailed off.

"…Don't work." Vic finished his sentence, "Right, we'll have to go through them the old fashioned way."

"You do that." Rachel muttered and ghosted through the door effortlessly.

"Hey" Gar piped in, "Why didn't she just teleport us all out of here?"

"Probably didn't want to take _you_." Vic answered before smashing Kori's door to pieces.

* * *

Camera 8: Left Hallway

The clanking of metal shot through the silence of the hallway like an earthquake. Surely, Slade knew exactly where they were now. Nightwing was first over the threshold followed closely by Starfire and Beast Boy—Cyborg stumbled out last. Raven was already across the hallway heading for the stairs. With the lights out and the sun barely rising over the horizon, the Tower was in a spooky mood. With Star's flashlight, her starbolt, and Cyborg's shoulder light it lessened the eeriness of running through a tower looking for a madman—but not by much. Even though this was the home they had lived in and shared so many memories in, deep down in their hearts, each one was stricken with fear.

Raven jumped down the stairs three at a time with Nightwing and the rest of the gang close behind. Their footsteps echoed through the stairway leading them straight to Slade.

* * *

Camera 15: Cyborg's Eye

Beast Boy was the first to bring it up, "Where are we going guys?"

"I don't know," Nightwing snapped back, "Right now, we need to go somewhere big and spacious where we can fight Slade without him running away into the Tower."

"Then why aren't we running towards the roof?" Starfire asked.

"Well he could be out there waitin for us Star…" Cyborg said.

"Why can't Raven teleport us to the Lobby or something?" Beast Boy groaned. He wasn't tired yet, but he didn't like the thought of running down all the way to the second floor.

"Sorry." Raven answered back sarcastically. She didn't have a problem with teleporting them, but she had grown accustomed to saving up her energy for massive bursts of power. Unlike in her youthful days when defensive force fields were always thrown up and objects flung, she learned to increase her speed. By dodging and striking swift fatal blows to vital spots on the body she saved energy for bigger—more major battles to come… But if this "Slade-thing" got any worse, she knew she'd have to go all out.

"It's alright…" Beast Boy replied softly, he was surprised Raven had answered him. And the fact that he slammed into Nightwing because he couldn't tear his eyes away from her.

There was a sharp intake of breath from Nightwing replaced quickly with a low growl.

"Slade."

And there he was in all his glory standing barely ten feet away from them.

* * *

A change of perspectives…

* * *

He grinned. So there they were… The Titans. So grown up, getting so _old_… Slade smirked and downright laughed out loud. This would either be a piece of cake, or the battle of a lifetime. The gears were spinning madly in his head. The weight on his right shoulder was creating a throbbing pain for him. He'd have to fire quickly and retreat to load another hit. But who should he shoot first?

Slade weighed each option: Aiming for Raven would give him a slightly better success rate since she was the closest to him. On the other hand, getting Nightwing would cripple them mentally and as seeing him as the biggest threat he would be the better choice.

Nah.

He wasn't exactly sure if they had gotten stronger, and if they had, by how much? He'd just have to do what he'd been doing for fifteen years: wait and see.

* * *

Camera 15: Cyborg's Eye

Slade had hesitated when they had met on the stairs. Starfire's green starbolt had vanished probably due to the mere shock of the situation. The flashlight Nightwing had was shining right on Slade's head. There was something different about Slade… Sure he had on basically the same colors as before save a few additions of armor here and there, but there was something funny propped up on his shoulder. Raven had no time to analyze it as Nightwing had jumped over the railing with a screaming battle cry. She hoped Cyborg could tell everyone what the contraption was as she joined the fray.

Slade seemed a bit sluggish as he turned tail and fled down the stairs. He managed to dodge all of Nightwing's projectiles while watching the stairs before him. Flashlight abandoned, they disappeared into the darkness leaving the team behind. Raven and Starfire were the first to act. The Tamaranean took to the air and sped after her husband and the maniac he was chasing. Raven took the rear behind Beast Boy and Cyborg.

Slade's handy footwork was what saved him multiple times. Had he slipped even once Nightwing would have been upon him in less than a second flat. On the other hand the Titan's leader himself was having trouble thinking straight, all he could see was his target: Slade. Raven and Starfire could sense he was being controlled by his rage. After fifteen years of tirelessly scouring the city looking for him… one wouldn't be surprised to see him in such a rage.

In the darkness Slade was having a hard time picking out Nightwing's movements. He obviously knew Nightwing hadn't neglected his training but he wasn't exactly sure of the other four. Slade had a general idea of what Starfire had been doing but she was hard to keep track of, as she herself had put it: "Preferred to work behind the scenes." He knew Starfire and Beast Boy's skills weren't as sharp as before… The only ones who had escaped his radar were Cyborg and Raven. Judging from the reaction Cyborg had given him when he first saw him Slade could conclude that Cyborg was not exactly in tip-top shape—even for a half-robot. Raven was the hardest to read, she kept her cool with but a slight turn of the head and an unchangeable poker face.

Slade's 'warrior's sixth sense' could only detect normal, very low, power levels emanating from her. He was cautious around her.

Unknowingly Nightwing had driven Slade to the second floor and only when he had broken the door to the Lobby did he catch his breath and realize his duty as a team leader.

Starfire was the first to meet up with him bringing with her a comforting pale green light. "Shit." Nightwing cursed between ragged breaths.

"Calm down… You'll be fine." Starfire reassured him. Nightwing growled in frustration.

"He got away, the bastard. He's in _our_ Tower. _Our Tower_!" Nightwing yelled out.

Beast Boy caught up to the couple, "Man, I need a breather." A strong light coming from the tin man's shoulder joined with a green light shined on the scene. Raven stood just outside of the light's reach—remaining just a silhouette in the darkness. Beast Boy tried to catch a glimpse of her, but she turned around. He was a bit disappointed.

"He ran into the Lobby ya'll. The only way to get out is through the stairs let's go!" Cyborg pushed them to move.

"Wait!" Nightwing half growled and half screamed, "I know I was a fool running after the bastard like I did. But hell if I'm ready to take him on like this!"

"What… What do you mean?" Beast Boy asked.

"Look at us! Tired already? I'm almost out of batarangs… And what is the _first_ thing Slade will do once we step foot in that Lobby?"

He paused even though it was a rhetorical question. No one dared answer while he was in this mood.

"He'll set up, aim, and fire! BAM! And our brains will be plastered all over the kitchen!" he shook his head, "We'll have to retreat for now… as much as I hate to admit it. We're not ready."

"What are you saying though?" Starfire asked, "Years and years of looking for Slade and he's cornered in one room! We can easily overpower him… We have an advantage in numbers!"

"She's right!" Beast Boy piped up. He wasn't going to let Slade go so easily.

"Then _you_ go after him!" Nightwing growled.

"His gun or whatever he has probably isn't loaded since he hasn't shot anything while we were on the stairs." Cyborg concluded. Raven was silent as she cursed Cyborg for not analyzing the gun's design while Slade was still and so close. But then again, he probably wasn't thinking straight and didn't act fast enough.

"Fine." Nightwing spat, "You go in, don't blame me if you die."

"I thought you _cared_ Dick." Starfire said, "You'll leave us to get Slade on our own then? Where's the man who would chase his enemy to the ends of the earth even _if _he was out of batarangs?"

Nightwing sighed, "Just go!"

With a huff, she turned and walked through the busted door with Beast Boy right behind her.

* * *

Camera 9: Roof

"Man, I've got to say, that was the stupidest thing you've ever done." Cyborg said for the tenth time.

"I know…"

Raven didn't show any sign of stopping Beast Boy or Starfire when they ran into the Lobby, although Cyborg couldn't deny the fact he was hoping she'd leap onto Beast Boy and tell him not to leave her. Of course, this only happened in Fantasy World (where anything is possible).

"What do you think happened down there…?" Cyborg asked slowly.

"I don't know… I just hope this doesn't turn out to be a bad thing…"

"A bad thing? Man, you _left_ them down there! With _your_ arch enemy no less!"

"Then what should I do huh?" Nightwing yelled, "Run in there and save their asses? While in the meantime, run for my life?"

"She's your wife! Yes, I expect you to run in there and save their asses!"

"Forget it." Nightwing grumbled, "She can handle this herself, plus she has Beast Boy to help her…"

"You think fur ball is enough to save her? He can barely handle himself! He'll die from the fear first!"

Nightwing didn't answer for the longest time, "What then? What do we do then hmm?"

"Well, I don't know Nightwing. I don't make your decisions for you, but I know what I'm going to do, and that's go in after them, whether they've defeated Slade or not."

Nightwing didn't say anything, "Fine, go."

Cyborg turned to leave, heading for the door leading back into the Tower. Raven turned to follow but Nightwing stopped her.

"And where are you going?" he asked.

"Does it matter?" She answered.

"Yes. I've probably lost two members of our team, I don't want to lose anymore."

"Only if you sit here and do nothing will they be lost." She said.

"What? Are you saying I should go down there even though I'm not ready? Then I'll die."

"Are you afraid?" Raven asked him.

"Well… To tell you the truth… I mean Slade really hit a nerve back there… Just seeing him again gave me chills." Nightwing confessed. To the Titans, Raven was someone you could tell your deepest secrets to. You wouldn't get any opinions on it, just true honest advice. It wasn't uncommon for Nightwing to be spilling out his emotions to someone other than his own wife.

"Aren't you afraid too?"

Raven paused, "I don't know. Am I?"

"Don't tell me you're not."

"I never said I wasn't."

"Well you're going to follow Cyborg down there aren't you?" he asked.

"It looks that way."

"And you know Slade's down there."

"Yes, I know."

"And you're not scared?"

She shrugged and put her hands in her pockets. It was getting lighter outside as the minutes approached six o' clock. In another hour the city would be waking up…

"Please… Check on Star for me."

"Are you ashamed?"

"No… I just want to know if she's alright." He lied.

"Maybe you should check on her yourself." She suggested.

"Right…you're right. I should." He put his head in his hands and exhaled slowly. Raven still hadn't moved and Cyborg was long gone.

"One question before I leave you…" She asked.

"Shoot."

She paused. "Have I…" She shook her head, "I don't know how to say this..." _Demon spawn, witch, goth, creepy, scary..._ "I'm-we're all different now aren't we?"

Nightwing smiled, "Yeah. All of us have changed. For the better."

"Hm." She didn't even look at him as she opened the door and walked down the stairs.


	11. The One With The Decisions & The Misses

Camera 15: Cyborg's Eye

Raven caught up to Cyborg on the stairs. His steps were hurried and rushed; it was obvious he wanted to see the other two Titans. The light shining on his shoulder illuminated the steps before them, but brought eerie shadows from areas unknown.

"What'd he say to you?" Cyborg asked once Raven's footsteps slowed to match his own.

"Nothing much."

"Figures." Cyborg snorted. As they neared the broken door it was deathly silent. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

* * *

Camera 2: Lobby

It was still pretty dark in the Lobby even though the sun was inching up over the horizon. Raven smelled blood. It was good she didn't have the same deadly bloodlust as other demons she knew. Then again, she wasn't exactly a demon herself…

Cyborg stepped in the empty room. Even with his light it seemed as though nothing had took place in that room. Had Slade played maid and cleaned up after the fight? Highly doubtful. A chair or two was turned over, but nothing overly dramatic… The couches weren't singed by a certain starbolt, nor were there claw marks anywhere.

"I'm picking up no signs of Slade…" Cyborg read aloud checking his scanners, "Beast Boy and Star are here though, I'm positive."

"I can feel Beast Boy…" Raven said slowly feeling a bit relived, "But I can't seem to find Starfire…"

"That's…Not good."

Raven went toward the far wall, the one closest to the window. Crouched behind the sofa were Beast Boy and Starfire. The alien was unconscious in Beast Boy's arms.

"What happened man?" Cyborg asked a shaking Beast Boy.

"I-I don't know… Slade. It was Slade… He-He did this thing and it did this thing to Star… I don't know what happened!"

"She's not bleeding." Raven stated the obvious. Beast Boy allowed Cyborg to take Star off his hands and get some readings off her blood pressure and heart rate. After a quick examination, Cyborg had found nothing seriously wrong. She seemed all right.

"Nightwing's up on the roof right?" Cyborg asked, "We should tell him!"

"Shouldn't we be heading to the Med Bay?" The half-demon asked.

"Nothing's working in there. Besides Nightwing would want to see Star even though I'm pretty sure nothing serious happened."

"…Right." Raven reluctantly agreed, "You take Starfire to Nightwing. I'll find Slade."

"Are you insane!" Beast Boy yelled out. Raven jumped—slightly. "S-Slade's in the Tower and you're going in after him?"

"That's what I said Beast Boy."

"…Alone?"

"Alone." She paused, "Why?"

"I…" He looked at Cyborg expecting some backup excuse or reassurance. Something told him this wasn't right—that it wasn't right to go with Raven. To their inevitable deaths or their worst nightmare—whatever the hell Slade had up his sleeve! And yet… And yet if he didn't go, she'd either come out alive… Or die alone. Wait a second, why did he suddenly care what happens to her? Sure, the grudge was over but that meant nothing. That just meant they were friends again… Right?

Cyborg hesitated to speak but couldn't wait any longer, "Look you guys work this out, I'm taking Star up to the roof."

Raven watched Cyborg go out of the corner of her eye. _Slade wouldn't hit them on their way up there would he? No, I don't think so. He'd wait... He'd wait for Nightwing. _She couldn't stand around there all day though and she sure as hell couldn't wait for Beast Boy's damn answer. She'd just go alone. It'd be easier that way. Raven headed out of the Lobby and into the gym.

* * *

Camera 3: Gym and Medical Bay

She tore through the recently opened gym door. Evidence seemed to show that Slade was in here at some point, but if he still was she didn't know. He had tried to put the door back so it seemed untouched but that trick would have only worked on Starfire and Beast Boy. A little frustrated and tired of his game Raven was _not_ in a happy mood. She proceeded to kick some dumbbells that were in her way. A couple of 50 lb. weights were lying around, Cyborg's own weightlifting contraption, Beast Boy's treadmill, punching bags, wrestling mats… Nothing looked out of the ordinary.

Still not quite morning yet the room remained still and full of shadows. Raven glanced around. Nothing. She swept on her heel and turned to leave.

Slade's fist connected with her stomach out pf nowhere. The power of his punch sent her flying into Nightwing's punching bag.

"Slade!" Raven yelled out and quickly recovered. They squared off gauging each other's strength. She gently touched the area were Slade's fist hit. It was burning with pain and begging for revenge. And she would give it just what it wanted.

A change of perspectives…

"Nick honey wake up."

Nick groaned. Twisting in the bed sheets he turned to his wife. Damn her and her internal alarm clock. Geez, wasn't it Sunday? Can't a woman let her man sleep _in_ once in a while?

"Hmm…?" he asked. She should be lucky he was even giving her the time of day!

"Hon, don't you have to go to work?"

"What?" he asked groggily clearly annoyed she had woken him up, "Is that new Teen Titans show over yet?"

"No, it's not even out yet." Sam answered remembering what the TV Guide said.

"When's it airing again?"

"Tomorrow."

Nick sighed and closed his eyes, "Then I don't have to work until the day after tomorrow."

"And why is that?" she asked suspiciously.

"I took a day off so I could watch it when it airs."

"Nick!" Sam yelled in surprise with a 'how-could-you?' look on her face. Or was that a 'god-how-childish-of-you' look? Oh, hell he didn't care.

"As all the kids say these days: chill." Nick groaned.

"We don't have any kids." Sam reminded him, "Moron."

"Well…" Nick paused, "…We _could_ if—." She slapped him. "Ow!"

"You know we could have just taped it!"

"No… That would ruin it! I'd be behind the whole world."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, while everyone else is watching this I'll be at work and then I'll have to come home and watch it… I don't know Sam, I just don't like that."

"You just want to stay home." She said bluntly.

"Yeah, that too."

* * *

Camera 3: Gym and Medical Bay

She eyed his contraption—the same one he had earlier. Judging by the way he leaned slightly to his right meant the thing was pretty heavy. He caught her calculating the weight of his gun and straightened up. It was a subtle movement but it did its purpose. She smirked. At least this little exchange of glances and movement proved her to be a worthy adversary. No, she never let her guard down, never gave up, never stopped training even if it _was_ her who had said they were getting too old for it. She couldn't help it. It was her life and she'd fight or die trying.

Slade was the first to attack. Closing the distance between them, it seemed he was flying on air, he was so fast and agile. Raven didn't even attempt to block his strike. This was a waste of her time. He tried to sweep her off his feet with a low kick to the knee but she was just as fast—evading it easily.

"Heh." Slade laughed. Raven glared at him watching closely for any sudden movements. "You know…" Slade paused, "All I ever wanted was someone to follow in my footsteps."

Raven didn't care much. Why the hell was Slade telling her this stuff anyway? It didn't matter, he was only prolonging his death.

"When I saw Robin…" Slade continued, "I said, 'That's him.' I knew he was the one. But Robin cared too much for his friends… So then when I came across Terra, she seemed perfect—a bit unstable—but she didn't have any friends. I suppose it was partly my fault I didn't realize she was so stupid to befriend you Titans… But that stupidity proved to be my advantage. She followed my every word… Until she defied me. Then I found _you_… And _your_ secret."

"Stop babbling you bastard." Raven growled.

"Oh so you don't want to hear your part of the story?" Slade mocked.

"No. I _don't_!" she yelled and flew at him with blinding speed. A sleek blade of magic enveloped her arm, extending outward into a very dangerous-looking blade. A trick she'd picked up while testing the limits of her telepathic powers.

Slade dodged it barely but she spun back around too fast and she could feel the blade slicing through his cold armor effortlessly. Blood spewed from his wound slowly trickling down his arm. Not stopping in between attacks she lunged for him again twisting around to grab the gun on his shoulder trying to get a clear view of its parts. She wasn't sure what would happen if she destroyed it.

It brought back memories. Painful ones, but memories nonetheless. Times when criminals were still criminals… Times when the Titans were _still_ the Titans, and times when the heroes prevailed and the bad guys fell. Ah, the good days… When Raven still couldn't control her powers, couldn't smile, couldn't laugh, couldn't do the things normal people did. But she had changed she was sure of it… but were the others sure too? She didn't know.

He watched her as time slowed to a snail's pace. He saw her grab it, saw her turn, saw her bring her blade down to destroy it… His feet wouldn't move, his legs turned slowly… his shoulders swung ever so slightly to knock the gun out of her hands. She pierced his shoulder as time sped up again.

Slade was on the ground clutching his new wound crying out moans of pain. Raven landed with a thud and jumped away from the bleeding man incase he had something hidden up his sleeve.

"_You_… You were the only one who had the power to control _me_. Because of your damned father's contract…" Slade trailed off.

"Maybe you should've read the fine print before you signed the paper." Raven sneered.

"You're nothing but a _demon_." Slade fired back. Raven flinched. Slade saw his chance and bolted for the door. He disappeared into the darkness of the hallway.

She let him go. Why? She didn't know why. She just did. Was it pity? No, she knew he'd come back. Raven had it all figured out. This was make it or break it. All or nothing for Slade. Too bad he'd get nothing.

* * *

Camera 9: Roof

Cyborg slammed the door to the roof open.

"Nightwing!" he yelled. Their leader should've been right here. Right where they left him. And yet… He wasn't. Cyborg gently lowered Starfire to the floor.

"Nightwing!" Cyborg cried out again. Shit. He felt so guilty. This was all his fault. If it weren't for his damned show and his damned company he—or anyone wouldn't have gotten into this mess. It was fine with Atlas and Adonis… He didn't know Slade would show up! Furthermore, he only had a day until the show aired… Which pressed him for time. He needed to be back in his old life—wearing his suits, writing papers in his office, greeting co-workers, designing new things for the shop—before the show aired. This was not good. Not good at all.


	12. The One With The Sissy Spilling Secrets

Camera 1: Entrance

Nightwing trotted down the long room searching for any signs of Slade. He stopped short hearing a faint crackling noise. Following his ears he finds the main power switch has been broken into.

"What the…?" Nightwing asked softly. He couldn't get into the wires for a small shield prevented anything from getting in. How did Slade know the secret panel was right here? The only way to possibly get in was if he collapsed the whole wall. Which was not an option.

Nightwing took a chair that was nearby and smashed it through the door leading outside. It cracked and fell leaving a perfect hole for Nightwing to climb out through. Now that he thought about it, it probably would've been better if he'd jumped out a window. He walked up to the orange shield that encased the island. Touching the shield he threw a few punches at it. Nothing. A hard kick. Nothing. Banging his fists on it still nothing. Walking around the shield he contemplated whether or not Slade had the key to this thing or something.

* * *

Camera 9: Roof

Starfire was still unconscious. Cyborg didn't know what to do. Where was Nightwing? Picking up Starfire he ran to his room hoping Starfire would remain unconscious for a bit longer.

* * *

Safely inside his room he turned to the camera mainframe. Luckily Slade hadn't trashed this room. Each monitor blinked up in seconds showing its contents. Beast Boy was wandering around the Tower alone. Raven was in the Gym; blood was on the floor in various areas. He wondered if she had a run-in with Slade or was she really working that punching bag? No, he knew. She'd fought Slade that was for sure. Speaking of Slade, where was he? Cyborg cursed Slade for pulling the plug on the Tower's main cameras for they had better night vision. Aha! Nightwing was outside walking around the grass. Probably looking for a way out. Well, that'd be futile… Cyborg faintly remembered when they were trapped in this thing before; nothing could get them out of it.

"Cyborg?" Starfire groaned.

He whirled around, "S-Starfire?" He shifted quickly trying to hide the camera screens with his big body.

She rubbed her forehead, "Uh… When did you get here?"

"You remember anything?"

"Didn't Beast Boy and I fight Slade?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Then… Oh gosh I can't remember…" she sighed and closed her eyes.

"Yeah, well, Beast Boy told us you get hit pretty hard with Slade's little toy." Cyborg explained.

"I suppose…" she hesitated before asking the much dreaded question, "Um, what's with all the cameras?"

"Oh, um… These cameras?" he pointed to the mainframe that was spread our before him, suddenly very tense and sweating.

"Yes… Those cameras."

"They are um… A new system I found when I was looking through the Tower's computer!" he lied.

"The Tower's computer was fried thanks to Slade."

"Oh… Yeah." He tried acting dumb. There was no possible way he could have gotten out of the situation without spilling the secret. If Starfire hadn't learned English by now, he probably would've had a better chance of pulling off a lie.

"And those aren't the same cameras we had before."

"Yeah, yeah… I know…"

"What's going on?" she asked this time a bit more sternly. Cyborg sighed. Oh man, he was in _a lot_ of trouble.

* * *

Camera 1: Entrance

Nightwing walked up to the center of the room. Slade was really kicking their asses this time. He was alone. There was no one to watch his back if he were to run into Slade. He wished Starfire were here with him. Nightwing knew what he would say when he saw her again. It would make everything all better. He knew it. He was positive.

Nightwing's head jerked to his right sensing someone at the doorway.

"Oh ho. _Here_ you are." A very familiar voice greeted him.

"Slade!"

* * *

Camera 10: Outside

The fight brought them out onto the grass and the crisp morning air. Nightwing was fast and quick with his martial arts, fists flying everywhere, mind constantly moving… Anticipating Slade's next move. No less was his enemy, with attacks that were slower but powerful, using every bit of his body as a weapon. They were evenly matched. Although some would say Nightwing was better.

"You still just a shadow compared to the old Bats, _Robin_?" Slade taunted him. Nightwing threw a fist aimed directly for his face but missed and his knuckles hit the orange shield behind them. Ignoring the pain in his hand he spun around—leg outstretched—ready for impact, but never got it.

"It's _Nightwing_ you sadistic psycho!"

"Now now, no name calling." Slade said shaking a finger at the frustrated Titan. Leaping up he decided to try for an aerial strike. Raining down furious kicks and punches, Slade deflected them all, taking little or no damage. Slade seemed to be enjoying his battle with the Leader of the Titans. There was such a passion for fighting in him that it just wanted to make him laugh. But he didn't.

"Look, Slade, what the hell do you want from us?" Nightwing yelled out.

"I _did_ want you, _Robin_. As a follower… In my footsteps."

"Tough luck." Nightwing sneered. He threw a freeze disk from his belt aimed at his opponent. Of course he knew Slade would dodge it, or hit it back. As an added effect he threw down a smoke screen just in case.

Nightwing rushed silently around Slade as the smoke filled the area. He was right, as Slade casually flicked off the disc like it was a fly. Clenching his fist he slammed it into the older man's spine hearing_ something _crack. Only when he looked down he realized his arm was bent at an abnormal angle.

"Robin, Robin, _Robin_… Out of all the Titans, I studied _you_ the most. Don't you think I've learned your tricks by now?" Slade asked tilting his head slightly to the right letting his neck crack.

"Shut up! You don't know me at all!" Nightwing got ready to lunge at the man, but felt the excruciating pain from his arm bringing him to his knees. Screaming half in pain, half in anger that he couldn't finish the job he lost consciousness as the image of Slade bringing his gun down at him and pulling the trigger filled his mind.

* * *

Camera 15: Cyborg's Eye

The metal man thought Starfire could just fly him down from his room, but apparently he thought wrong. At first she thought she was just stressed out that her flying powers weren't working. Turns out neither did her starbolts or her lasers. Oddly, she still wanted to go down and get Nightwing powerless or no. _Great _Cyborg thought, _we'll have to take the stairs._ He mentally noted to check out Star's problem later though.

As Cyborg and Starfire pounded down the stairs they exchanged a quick conversation. Not good by any means for Cyborg, but Starfire seemed not the least bit angered. Maybe she was trying to relieve some stress or something. You never really know why when it comes to that girl… Although she seemed to be enjoying torturing the tin man as to what the cameras were for.

"So it's a new burglar system right?" She asked him again.

"Uh… Yeah, yeah it is." Cyborg lied.

"So why's it not hooked up to the main power system again?"

"I told ya Star, because I figured something like this would happen." He thought about what she would ask next. He couldn't handle this many lies to one person… Thank goodness Starfire couldn't read minds like Raven.

"Then why were all the cameras positioned on every Titan?"

"Um… You know, just in case." Cyborg wished this conversation would end. She was playing with him he knew it! Or was she? He was so used to answering Starfire's stupid questions it just seemed natural. He was glad he didn't have Hex put any cameras in the Stairway it was bad enough he was _in_ his _own_ television show!

"Just in case what?"

"In case they… Get kidnapped or something." He mentally smacked himself for the pathetic excuse.

"Kidnapped?" Starfire asked put on a fake smile, "Well we wouldn't want that now would we?"

Cyborg sighed, _She fell for it, haha! Or is she just acting dumb? _Cyborg shook his head, _Oh dang it… I can't handle this anymore!_

"Then again… Who'd want to kidnap an Ex-Teen Titan?" Starfire asked herself out loud.

Cyborg stopped and faced her, "Argh! You're driving me _nuts_!"

She grinned, "So… Will you tell me about the cameras now?"

He let out a big long sigh, "If you _promise_ not to tell anyone!"

She smiled, "Okay! I promise!"

"Not a _soul_!"

"Pinky promise! Not a soul!" She grinned even bigger and stuck out her pinky for him to shake. He ignored the gesture. He was still having doubts.

"You sure?"

"Girl Scout's Honor! I won't tell _anyone_!" Starfire gave him a Girl Scout salute.

"You know, forget it… Just forget it okay?" He turned around and headed back down the stairs.

"…Sissy." She mocked.

"What?" Cyborg spun around, _What'd she just call me?_

"You don't trust me is that it?"

"No. … …Well yes." Cyborg confessed.

"You can trust me Vic! Look, I won't even tell Nightwing."

There was just no way he'd get himself out of this one, "…Alright… Not even Nightwing." She held out her pinky for him to shake. This time, he took it.

* * *

Camera 3: Gym and Medical Bay

"Raven?" Beast Boy called out. Cyborg was long gone and so was the mysterious violet haired girl who he had been calling for over a minute. He was about to leave when a loud thud was heard coming from the gym. It may not have been very loud, but his heightened hearing picked it up easily. He had decided to follow the sound and maybe see what was going on. He hoped he wouldn't run into Slade.

His footsteps echoed within the empty hallway. It was not lit since there were no windows and the doors weren't open.

"Raven?" He called again. No answer. He walked further down jumping at the slightest sound. "Raven? Where are you?" Beast Boy called out a third time, "Are you okay?"

He hesitantly reached out a hand to grope the wall and steady his shivering knees. His hand fell across the door to the gym. It was… open? No, it was more like busted. His hand trailed over the broken door. He couldn't see a damn thing and slowly he reached into the hole in the door to try and find something to grab onto.

His hand felt flesh and he shrieked.

* * *

Camera 1: Entrance

"Why would he be down here?" Starfire asked. Cyborg shook his head signaling that he didn't know.

"I saw him on the cameras. If he moved then I'd have to check again."

"What if Slade got him?" Starfire asked but it came out as if she was looking down at his dead body.

"Don't say stuff like that Star, I'm sure he's perfectly fine…" Cyborg reassured her with a quick smile. It didn't do much, but it was better than nothing. As they ran through the Entrance their worst fears were realized. Slade casually walked through the other door—cocky smirk played across his lips.

Starfire—enraged—swept past a dumbfounded Cyborg to reach Slade. She had no proof Slade actually did anything to Nightwing. After all he could just be walking through a door like any other person. Everyone knew Slade didn't bump into people without picking a fight. No this was _Slade_ they were talking about. If it wasn't Nightwing walking through that door then they knew _something_ horrible went down.

Common sense abandoned she leapt at him fist clenched tight and ready.

In a blink of an eye she was thrown out of the air hitting the wall off to the left.

"Star!" Cyborg watched her hit the wall and fall mercilessly to the ground. She was powerless, what was she thinking? She couldn't fly, she couldn't use starbolts, she… She was just a normal everyday fashion designer.

"My my Cyborg… Using holograms again?" The armored man walked closer to Cyborg who stood his ground, "Now that you've seen what my new creation here can do… What do you think? Impressive in the eyes of a robot himself?"

"What'd you do to Nightwing?" He asked ignoring Slade's questions.

"You knew she was no match for me. Her powers have been sealed. Why didn't you do something? Your leader might be dead… You'll never know I suppose…" Slade taunted him further. Cyborg recollected his thoughts and jolted himself out of his trance. Running to Starfire he gently picks her up and runs out into the emerging sunlight.

Slade let them go. Just like Raven had done for him. Why? Well… Unlike Raven, he had a reason.


	13. The One With The Show

Camera 10: Outside

Cyborg looked for Nightwing and found him not too far away, face down in the grass. He rushed to him gently placing Starfire down next to him. Starfire opened her eyes groggily and tried to sit up. Cyborg helped her up, but as soon as she got to her feet, she sank down again tears running down her eyes.

"Star…" Cyborg said gently.

"Oh my god Slade got him…" She whispered, "What happened?"

It was then Cyborg noticed Nightwing's arm. He decided to let her find out herself… she was already worried too much.

"C'mon Star, we have to get outta here before Slade comes back."

She smacked his hand away, "No! Just leave me here…It was all my fault. I should have never argued with him…"

He sighed. It was no use; she'd sit here forever, and why? Because she loved him of course.

Cyborg took out his communicator pressed the button, paused, and then released it; "Heh next time you all have to bring your communicator okay?" he smiled.

She never even heard him.

* * *

Camera 3: Gym and Medical Bay

"R-Raven?"

"_What are you __**doing**__, Beast Boy_?" She asked, forcefully jerking away from his hand, which was placed in a most peculiar spot…

"I couldn't see where I was going and well…"

"This is sexual harassment of the highest level!"

"What?" he was blushing beet red all over, "I swear I didn't see you there!" he couldn't see her expression, but he could guess she was rolling her eyes.

"So your hand just _happened_ to be wandering over my boob and you just _happened_ to grab it?"

"No! I mean yes!"

She glared at him; "I will _kill _you if you _ever_ do that again!"

"Yeah yeah I believe you…" he answered lazily. No matter how much she threatened them, she never really did much to put them in danger. Then again this was an older Raven then what he remembered. Who knew what she was capable of. Thinking back, he had to admit _did_ kind of feel nice… All soft and—argh! No, he really shouldn't be thinking about that right now.

"Well if you're going to stand there all day, I'm leaving." Her voice shattered his thoughts.

"Wait! You could be walking straight into danger!"

"And you think I can't handle myself?" She said still a bit angry with him. And how dare he? Thinking of her as weak! Raven? Weak? Ha! Those words don't even belong in the same sentence!

"No, I mean, you can, I know you can but I just want you to be careful that's all."

"Now what are you? My mother?" Raven spat. Not only was she upset but also a tad embarrassed. Couldn't Beast Boy take a hint? If she wanted to go alone he should let her.

"You don't know if Slade is over there or not!" He yelled back, hurt by her last reply.

"I _know_ he's not! I can't feel his…" She paused searching for the right word, "…Aura."

"And you trust that?" He asked. Truthfully he thought of it as one of those things submarines had. Like radar or something.

"Don't you trust me?" She answered his question with a question. She had learned this was the best way to annoy most people. Plus it got her back on the offensive and him—the defense.

"I think I trust you a little more than I should…" He whispered softly. His answer meant a lot more than what he let on… He hoped she wouldn't notice.

* * *

Camera 4: Artifact and Interrogation Room

"It creepy in here." Beast Boy stated. Even though the sun was coming up the artifact room had to windows. Small square cases of various weapons on top of small pillars littered the room. There wasn't a speck of dust on any of them. It was Nightiwng's job to keep this particular room clean, he wouldn't let anyone else near it even when he was still Robin. The Titan's collection of dangerous enemy weapons seemed to have enlarged over the years. Once in a while a criminal would try to take something back from it, but they were put to jail swiftly and quickly.

"Get over it." Raven whispered back, "If you're scared you can leave."

"I-I'm not scared!"

She let out a sigh, his emotions were racing, running circles like crazy. He was on the verge of panicking. _Robin_ never let them into this room. Raven had snuck in once just to make sure Robin really wasn't hiding anything (of major importance) when she had first joined the team. It was natural Beast Boy was scared.

They walked through the small dark room silently, inspecting, observing, examining… Not finding anything out of the ordinary.

"Uh… Raven?"

"Hmm?" She looked up from examining Control Freak's remote. She was just about thinking that the remote had power over a rip in space and time… But was interrupted.

"What exactly are we looking for in here anyway?"

"Anything that strikes you as abnormal." She answered briefly and continued looking at the remote.

He was just about to say that _this_, this right here—them being together, in a room…. Alone—was abnormal, but decided not to. "You looking at anything that involves television is abnormal." He laughed.

"Ha. Ha. Ha. Very funny smart ass." She glared at him. He didn't see it through the darkness. Suddenly with a terrible crunching noise the door they had ripped opened got ripped a little more. Raven was quick to react and had grabbed Beast Boy's mouth, predicting he would scream—in this case he did. Almost stumbling over with his weight pushing her backwards she crouched down low, behind a random case. Beast Boy whimpered. Whether from fear or pain that her elbow was digging in his gut, she wasn't sure and frankly didn't care at that point. Someone stepped into the room and disappeared behind a different pile of pillars. Raven was about to scout out who the hell this person was when second person ran into the room.

_Geez, for being a secret room that people aren't supposed to come in, this sure isn't very secret_, Raven thought to herself.

This new person was cautious, carefully scanning the dark room for something he was obviously after. She detected Slade to be this mysterious intruder. Yup. She was right. It was Slade.

Beast Boy whined again. Softer this time as not to alert anyone.

"Calm down," she whispered softly into his ear. She lifted her hand off his mouth and grabbed his hand, holding it tight; reassuring him that she was still there.

Beast Boy's heart rate sped up. He didn't want to be in this situation. He couldn't think right or he'd have morphed into a fly and got the hell out of there. He didn't want to leave Raven alone either though. She could have ghosted through the floor by now, but she obviously didn't want to leave just yet. He would have enjoyed it more if it weren't for the mystery people hiding out in the room.

Finally one of them spoke, "You can't run from me Cyborg." Beast Boy's ears picked up the voice and identified it as Slade's. There was a click of a gun and a flash of white that illuminated the room for just a second and then they heard a groan. The shape shifter Raven was holding started shaking. _Oh shit_, she thought, _panic mode._ Then again she herself wasn't exactly calm either—But calm enough to keep herself and Beast Boy from doing anything stupid.

Slade turned to leave when his head snapped towards their hiding spot. In his panic Beast Boy's foot had slipped knocking against a pillar with a soft clicking noise. Raven cringed.

"And who might you be?" Slade asked the darkness. Raven didn't answer. She squeezed Beast Boy's hand tighter trying to get him to breathe straight. She was already opening a portal that would take them to another part of the Tower. Slade came walking closer. With each step they could already see the torment he'd put them through running through their minds. Raven sank through the floor, it was too late for Slade, they would be gone before he could say sayonara.

With a surge of speed Slade had grabbed Beast Boy's shoulders and had him yanked up and out of Raven's grasp before she could stop him. Raven was gone, but he had one of the two, that was enough. Truthfully he had wanted the half demon, but she would come back for her boyfriend he knew for sure.

"So, shall we wait then?" Slade asked Beast Boy like he was talking to a toddler. Unfortunately his victim was too shocked to answer.

"Right then, if you don't have a preference, you'll have to settle for this chair here."

* * *

A change of perspectives…

* * *

Nick flipped the remote over in his hands. He had everything ready—the popcorn, the drinks, the pillows all stacked up in a corner, and a nice warm blanket to huddle under.

"_Stay tuned for the season premier of Teen Titans: Inside Scope coming up next!"_ The television blared. Nick was so excited he almost wet himself.

"Gotta stop drinking all that cola…" He muttered.

The familiar click of the front door made him jump.

"Nickkk! I'm home!" Sam called out.

"What? You came home early?"

"Yeah, well… I figured I'd watch the show with you so I took the rest of the day off."

"And Jenifer _let_ you?" Nick asked surprised referring to Sam's cold-hearted boss.

She shrugged, "Told her you had a heart attack or something and I needed to sign forms at the hospital."

"You used me!"

"Payback for last Sunday."

"That was an accident!" He yelled. She really held a grudge.

"Whatever. We went over this before."

"Can't believe you…What if I start getting loads of flowers and sympathy cards from people!" Nick asked panicking, "What if—what if—my _mother _finds out!"

"You'll find some way to deal with it." She said calmly letting Nick to weep to himself. Sam got up from the couch and headed towards their bedroom.

"Hey where are you going?"

"I'll be back."

"Hurry while it's still commercial!" Nick yelled.

"I'll be right back I said!" she disappeared around the wall.

"Okay, but hurry!"

"I'll be right back!" Her muffled voice screamed out from within the bedroom.

"Sorry! Take your time… I mean, but hurry a little…" Nick stuttered and gave up on a conversation that wasn't going anywhere. Gods he was so bubbly he felt like a little boy again. Robin had been like an idol almost, after the Titans broke up Nick resorted to being a simple fan instead. But this new show had rekindled his admiration for Robin once again. It was a thrill just watching hamburger commercials and mattresses being sold half-price just knowing that this would get him closer to… The "Inside Scope".

Sam returned from the bedroom dressed in her pajamas. Plopping down next to her husband she grabbed a handful of popcorn popping them in, one by one.

"Hey some of these are burnt you know!" she complained chewing what looked like chunky chocolate dipped in butter.

"Sorry, I didn't hear the microwave… TV was up too loud."

She rolled her eyes, "I swear, men—and their superhero fantasies. What can ya do?"

"Hey! That was very sexist right there! For your information I know a girl at work who is madly in love with Nightwing!"

"And who is that?"

"Elizabeth." Nick answered.

"Elizabeth who?" Sam asked mildly interested.

"Elizabeth… Smith."

"And why is it I've never heard of her?"

"She… Just moved here. From… Alaska." He hesitated before satisfied with his answer.

"Oh really?"

"Mmhmm, and she's very pretty you know. Maybe even prettier than you." Nick glanced at Sam taking a throbbing punch to the head not too soon after.

"Say that again and I'll break the TV."

"No please!" he begged, "I love you! Very much!"

"Just watch your damn show." She replied knowing very well there was no Elizabeth Smith from Alaska.

"_So, Jim, just what do you think of this new show about the Teen Titans?"_ A pretty blonde from the television asked a man sitting next to her. They were positioned facing the camera as if they were some news anchors dishing out the daily weather.

"Hey Sam, did you change the channel?" Nick asked.

"No. I don't even know where the remote is."

"What the hell is this then?" He waved at the screen like it was a fly buzzing around.

"Beats me. Just watch it. You might learn something."

"_I talked to the producers, RoboManiac, they said it was just a new show replacing their old one, what was it again Jane?"_

"_Oh, you mean Future Technology?"_

"_The Next Generation!"_ The two said in unison, mimicking the show's opening phrase. Jim then broke out into the show's popular jingle—with Jane, not too far behind.

"God, what is with those two?" Sam looked at it with disgust.

"Don't mind 'em, they're probably on crack or something." Nick replied before returning to the TV.

"_Okay, enough messing around let's get to the juicy stuff!"_ Jim began.

"_That's right folks, in just a couple minutes you'll get to witness the Teen Titans going about their daily lives!"_

"_This is—or was—live footage!"_

"_Fifteen years ago was when we really last saw them."_ Jane said.

"_That's right! So, why don't you tell the new people out there who don't really know about the Teen Titans, more about the superheroes in general?"_ Jim asked Jane.

Jane faked a laugh, _"Oh that's right, we haven't said any of their history yet!"_

"_Let's start with the famed, Nightwing, leader of the Teen Titans! Is Nightwing your favorite superhero Jane?"_

"_He's so dreamy!" _She answered,_ "Too bad he's married."_

Nick coughed an, 'I told you so' over to Sam who smacked him once again.

"_Nightwing is married?"_ Jim asked like it was breaking news.

"_Yes, and to Starfire no less."_

"_Who's Starfire?"_

"My goodness, they don't know who Starfire is? Who _hasn't_ heard of her?" Nick asked amazed.

Sam sighed, "I don't even want to know how you got through high school."

"_Starfire is a Teen Titan too, Jim. She was one of the two girls on the team."_

"_Who was the other girl Jane?"_

"_Her name was Raven. She was usually referred to as the gothic one, or the creepy one."_

Jim shuddered, _"An ice queen right?"_

"_Precisely, but there was also a guy named Beast Boy who always had something funny to say."_

"_Beast Boy is the only Teen Titan whose skin color is green!" _Jim told the camera.

"_That's true, but the last Teen Titan's skin was metal!"_

"_Metal?"_

"_Yes, his name was Cyborg. He was actually half man, half robot." _Jane explained to the camera.

"_Hey, I could be my own computer!"_ Jim exclaimed and they faked a laugh together.

"I swear those two should get married." Nick remarked.

"I'm with ya on that!" Sam said after taking a swig of Coke.

"_So how come we don't see the Teen Titans anymore?"_ Jim asked.

"_Well fifteen years ago the Teen Titans decided that they weren't 'teen' titans anymore and so they broke up."_

"_That's so sad!" _Jim faked a sniffle.

"_Don't cry Jim! On the Inside Scope you'll be able to see your favorite Titan again!"_ Jane said, _"Tell us who that was again?"_

"_My favorite Teen Titan is Starfire, but she hasn't been seen since the break-up fifteen years ago!"_

"_I hear all the Titans have a secret job somewhere hidden under secret identities." _Jane said.

"_Then who protects the city Jane?"_

"_Nightwing of course!"_

"_But doesn't he have a secret job?" _Jim asked.

"_No, Nightwing is the only Titan who stayed a superhero."_

"_You mean they have secret jobs and secret identities but they don't save the world anymore?"_

"_That's right Jim."_

"_What is the point of making everything secret then?" _Jim asked as he shrugged his shoulders at the camera.

"_Even though they're retired, they're still famous."_

"_I thought only old folk like me, remember the Teen Titans."_

"_That's not true Jim, even young kids and teenagers nowadays know about the Titans."_

"_You can't miss their Headquarters! It's that giant 'T' shaped building floating right outside!" _Jim exclaimed and pointed to a fake Titan's Tower painted on a backdrop.

"_It's almost a local must-see tourist attraction!"_

"_But you can see it from here Jane!" _Jim said and they faked yet another laugh together. Their laughter was cut short when the word 'mute' flashed on screen.

"_Thank_ you…" Sam exclaimed and grabbed a pillow, plopping down on it.

"Man, when is this going to stop?" Nick asked lazily throwing the remote on the floor just watching Jim and Jane's mouths move without words coming out. The popcorn was finished and he was just about ready to doze off.

"You were the one who said it was starting…" Sam's voice came out muffled from the pillow.

"I know! I _thought_ it was starting…" Nick yawned, "Guess I was wrong."

Sam reached for the remote, grabbed it, and flipped the channel. She changed it to the local news where she 'un-muted' the sound.

"Hey!" Nick yelled.

"What? You want to hear Mr. and Mrs. Stupid some more?"

"No… But what if the show comes on?"

"Which it isn't. So it doesn't matter."

"You don't know—" Nick cut himself off when he saw what was on the screen. "Oh my god, Sam! Look!"

"What—?"

"Is that the Titan's Tower?" Nick asked, "Turn the volume up."

"Let's hope that's not a new and improved mosquito net…"

"Turn it up! Turn it up!" He was scrambling around for the remote.

"Alright already!" She turned it up full blast.

"_Breaking news! Live from Gotham! We have heard from a witness who did not want their face shown, that this 'bubble' of sorts has enveloped the famed Titan's Tower since early this morning!"_

"Oh my god…" Sam was glued to the screen.

The screen shifted to a live view of the Tower, _"We have detected movement in the Titan's Tower but so far, nothing serious. Forces are not sure if this 'bubble' is dangerous. Our witness says it is not harmful, but we taking full precautions. Still detecting for life forms inside of the 'bubble', confirmation that at least three people…"_

The door slammed shut. Sam whirled around, "Nick! Wait!"


	14. The One With The Helicopter

Camera 3: Gym and Medical Bay

Raven had gone so far as the smashed doorway to the gym when she had realized he was gone. Taken, right out from under her. Was she the only Titan left? The only one left who could fight Slade? Assuming Beast Boy was …How to say this, Beast-less? Her emotions almost got the better of her. She would have wanted to fly straight back up there, knock the lights out of Slade, and finish this one hell of a mess.

She needed to think. To meditate.

When was the last time she had meditated? After she had mastered controlling her powers, meditating was just something that she could do as a hobby. Not that it was much of a hobby… She was so against this—this Reunion. What if everyone thought she was weird because she just started openly expressing herself? What if she had become too powerful? What if they feared her? What if, what if, what if?

Damn, she really needed to think this over.

* * *

Camera 2: Lobby

Ghosting through one last floor she walked over to a chair, sat down, and rested. The Lobby was full of light, the only real room with walls that consisted of mostly windows. Was it noontime, or evening? It was a bit hard to tell, probably around the time when most people came home from work.

Raven rested her head on her palms and closed her eyes. She didn't feel like meditating. To hell with meditating! Meditating did nothing for her except maybe calm her nerves. It served no other purpose than that. One day she'd return to Azarath and tell those idiots she'd mastered her powers on her own. But for now, she'd settle for cursing them here on earth. But that didn't really concern the matters at hand, getting Slade was.

A bright light swept across her face for a split second. Whipping her head up she brought out a small amount of energy, just enough for a force field or something similar in case this thing turned out to be an enemy. It was right outside the window overlooking the city. Right outside that orange shield encasing the Tower. A helicopter. It circled around the Tower once, maybe twice but never stopped for her. There was a man with a video camera inside… Didn't Nightwing _specifically_ tell all news reporters to stay away or he'd sue them for invasion of privacy?

Hell, what could they do anyway? No one could get in or out. That's what Slade had said hadn't he? It didn't matter. She'd beat the answer out of him if she had to.

"Bastard's probably waiting for me," she mumbled to herself. She would end this little skirmish here and now. Slade wouldn't be going to jail any time soon, no she didn't think so; this time he'd be getting a first class ticket straight to hell.

* * *

Camera 4: Artifact and Interrogation Room

"Maybe she never noticed...?" Slade said aloud. He was talking to himself. Again. Beast Boy was powerless, Cyborg had been short-circuited, who knew the Titans were so easy to get rid of? He should have thought of this earlier. There was a twinge of worry emanating from Nightwing and Starfire but hopefully they wouldn't be coming up here. In Nightwing's condition, he wouldn't be able to fight. …Unless, Raven healed him… But she wouldn't do that. Would she? She was supposed to have come straight back up once she noticed Beast Boy was gone. At least, that's what Slade had thought.

"No, I think she noticed…" He said, "She's coming."

He was right—no sooner had he uttered that, she had a fist aimed directly for his face. He barely saw it coming and ducked just in time. She flipped just before hitting the wall stopping her momentum. Pushing off from the wall she flew straight for him, head on, using her powers to boost her speed. Slade knew he didn't stand a chance if he didn't step up his game. Their fight slipped into a blur of moving colors.

Raven jumped off a glass case landing near Beast Boy. She had a second to study his condition. Who knew what Slade had done while she was away? Probably not much from the looks of it.

His foot connected with her side but she sent a couple of concentrated blasts of magic his way before slamming into the opposite wall. He dodged them effortlessly. They were fast but didn't have any substance. At the same time Raven concluded she could outrun Slade, he was slightly slower from the gun on his shoulder. They met again in midair where Slade received a swift kick to the jaw. He winced from the pain but reacted in time to grab her leg and swing her around watching as she destroyed a few cases that were in the way.

Suddenly she disappeared. Just vanished. Gone. Slade was careful of his surroundings; she had slipped into the shadows and was gone. He spun around expecting something to move. He thought he heard something… he was hallucinating…

Out of nowhere Raven appeared in front of him, slicing through his left arm. _Damn_, She thought to herself, _I was aiming for his neck_. He moved in the nick of time, he had jumped sideways, but it had cost him… She had used her powers. He knew that for sure—normal attacks wouldn't have pierced the armor he was wearing.

"You and those powers…" He said slowly.

She watched the blood drip off him arm. One by one. Drop by drop. She would have to rip it off if it kept taunting her like that.

"I think I'll have to get rid of those powers…"

Her face was emotionless. He was going to neutralize her powers, or shoot her—whatever it was, the first chance he got.

He came running at her at full force. She was prepared… But not for what came next. He spun his damaged arm across her face, flicking blood in a circle, catching her in the moment her eyes left him. She was flung a couple feet knocking over multiple cases of nothings. There was a throbbing pain in her forehead.

She felt a burst of rage and she vanished for a second time.

Raven reappeared behind him in an instant, "I think I'll have to get rid of this arm!" She yelled, gathering up energy for a finishing blow—and this time, sliced it off completely. There was blood everywhere.

Beast Boy stirred. His vision was blurry and he felt so very weak… He thought he saw a flash of purple, "…Raven?"

She dropped her guard if only for a second. She looked behind her—at him—he had called her name. He would see her. He would see what she had done. He would see all the blood she spilled. Her expression was more of shock than scared.

Slade glanced up and saw his chance—ignoring the pain—aimed and fired.

* * *

Camera 10: Outside

"Shit, I'll have to have Raven or Cyborg heal this…" Nightwing muttered to himself. He had woken up outside… He thought he was dead. Slade's machine didn't kill him that was for sure. Star had said something about stealing powers. That would explain why he felt so very weak and tired.

"It's alright, try not to move it." Starfire tried to get him to let go of his arm. He looked at her, and then at the ground.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you… And made up lame excuses…"

She smiled, "It's fine. You were only worried right? I might have overreacted… And you said you were sorry right?" She laughed, "And when do you get to hear 'I'm sorry' from the oh-so-great _Nightwing_?"

He smiled. She kissed him.

* * *

Camera 4: Artifact and Interrogation Room

"R-Raven…?" Beast Boy sat up as far as the straps on him would allow. He saw everything. Slade had moved his gun at point blank range, and fired. There was no way he'd have missed, and it all happened so fast… She had turned around and smacked him in the head. Knuckles bloodied.

Beast Boy struggled against the restraints. He was put a chair where Robin used for interrogations. There were straps on it to prevent the person from moving. He still remembered the first and last time he himself was interrogated by Robin. …But that was a long time ago—and yet the memory was crystal clear.

Even without an arm Slade proved to be a difficult opponent. He had discarded his gun making him almost twice as fast. Without her powers… Raven was just …Normal.

She could barely dodge his lightning fast attacks, but she bided her time… Sooner or later he would collapse and faint of blood loss. He'd probably even die. She could only hope to stay alive until one of the two happened.

* * *

Camera 10: Outside

"What are you doing?" Starfire asked. Nightwing was buried deep in some bushes.

"Looking for that thing he was talking about."

"The people in the helicopter?"

"Yeah, didn't they say some device was in here?"

"I thought they said it was over there." Starfire said pointing to another set of bushes.

"Dammit!" He swore, "After this, I'm taking out _all_ shrubbery within five miles of the Tower!" They continued their search for the device they were told of. Destroy it, and the shield encasing the Tower would come down. The hard part was finding it. The men promised to bring back help once the bubble was down. With their powers gone, the Titans were gonna need it. Every bit of it.

"Hey…" She had a troubled look on her face.

Nightwing stopped his search, "What's wrong Star?"

"Umm… Was it just me, or did one of those guys have a camera with them in that helicopter?"

"Yeahh… One did… Why?" He looked puzzled, "Oh shit!"

"Did they get that kiss on tape?"

"Oh shit."

* * *

Camera 4: Artifact and Interrogation Room

"Raven!" Beast Boy yelled out for the hundredth time. She didn't seem to hear him, or she was ignoring him.

"Shut up!" She roared, "Stop calling my name!"

"Sorr—Agh! Watch out!"

She blocked Slade's fist with her right arm. Even without powers, Slade was one mean killing machine. Raven could tell by the pain, he had broken the bone. It hurt like hell. Her tolerance for pain had dramatically dropped since she became powerless. Not to mention her limbs felt sluggish, she had absolutely no speed at all—which was her greatest weapon—and to top it off she must have lost the ability to block out Beast Boy's voice since he was annoying her to the point she was yelling.

"I don't need you telling me!"

"Just trying to help!" He replied, "Ah! He's coming!"

His foot landed a hit to her jaw, she spun away from the kick to lessen the damage, but she was bleeding nonetheless. She remembered hitting him in the jaw—in the exact same place too. Huh. What a coincidence.

"Payback's a bitch." Slade sneered.

"Are you okay?" Beast Boy yelled out.

"Would you shut up?" Raven yelled back clutching her cheek, "Stop backseat driving me!"

"We're not driving Rae."

"I—" she ducked to avoid a punch to the nose, "—Don't give a damn!"

She couldn't land much damage to Slade with regular punches and kicks. Man of Steel has met his match—right here—in the form of Slade. Her hands were bleeding severely and her right foot felt like it was about to fall off.

"While you're at it, don't forget to teleport over here and untie me!" Beast Boy reminded her.

She twitched, "No powers moron!"

"Right! Sorry, forgot!"

The fight went on. Raven was beginning to think she wouldn't be able to hold on much longer. All she had to do was survive until Nightwing or Starfire got their fat asses up here! What was taking them? She picked up Control Freak's remote and threw it at Slade hoping to distract him. He crunched it to pieces. She ran to Beast Boy and began untying the buckles that held him down.

"About time…" He joked. She glared at him but said nothing.

"Just tell me when Slade gets within three feet of me."

"Will do." He answered. She fumbled with the straps. His right arm was free. Beast Boy untied his leg straps while she worked on his other arm.

"Umm… Rae…"

"It's Raven." She replied finishing up with his arm.

"Whatever. I was just gonna say that I'm really glad that—_Holy shit_! Watch out!" He screamed as she turned around to meet a face full of metal. There was a thump and Raven fell to the floor.


	15. The Last One

Camera 4: Artifact and Interrogation Room

Raven's mind flashed in and out. One second she saw some blinding light, the next—total darkness. There were floaters all over her vision. You know, those flashing things you sometimes think you see but aren't really there. Like a head rush or something… A really _bad_ head rush. As long as Beast Boy was safe… As long as he wasn't dead… That was all the reassurance she needed. If it was going to end right here and now, Gods, just let it be quick and painless. Her vision blurred to the point where everything had at least four copies of itself bouncing around like marbles. She swore she had a concussion. No, she _knew_ she had one.

Her world cracked, and she gave in to the darkness.

* * *

Camera 2: Lobby

"Hey, How long has Rachel been in there?" Dick asked Gar who was standing near the window.

"Four hours fifteen minutes and nineteen—no, twenty seconds." Vic piped in. He was sitting on a chair, one leg propped up on a cushion, wires spilling out everywhere.

"Yeah, I'll just go check up on her, you know, just to be safe." Gar said quickly.

Kori chuckled, "He just gave her a check up barely ten minutes ago."

"He saw her get hit. I'm guessing it was pretty devastating. He can be a worrywart sometimes." Dick told her. He slipped an arm around her waist.

"She's doin' fine. Don't forget she can heal herself too…" Vic said. He of course, was just glad they hadn't turned on the television. He still had no idea how to break it to the guys. Kori seemed fine with his little secret and so did Rachel… At least he thinks so.

"Honestly, I'm a little glad Slade's six feet under and pushing up daisies." Kori mumbled.

"Don't say that!"

"Excuse me!" She glared at Dick, "I just thought as a couple, we should be _honest_ with each other!"

"Not _that_ honest!"

"Sorry, do you want me to lie to you then?"

"Hey, hey, stop fighting you guys—or you'll see the divorce court waaay before you'll ever see the baby carriage." Vic said without even looking up. He knew they were both blushing. They got squeamish when it came to… reproduction.

Dick was still red but he managed to ask, "Well… What do you guys want for brunch?"

* * *

Camera 3: Gym and Medical Bay

Gar sat in silence. He wondered if Nick was worried or if he even was out looking for him. Oh, it didn't matter though. Why should he care? His whole life was a big heap of lies. Rachel knew what she was talking about when she asked him if he enjoyed killing people. Superheroes. What did it even mean? You lived for glory, or money, or satisfaction. You grew old, weak, decrepit, feeble, and you died… Or your arch nemesis kills you first. The world forgets you and soon learns to worship a new superhero… One who's stronger, flashier, more—what was the word? Hip. Cool. In-style—whatever. Time moves forward. He supposed there was nothing else he wanted in this world than to be appreciated. To have some kid come up to him and say, "thanks for keeping this town safe." There were times he just wanted to come out and shout to the world that he was really Beast Boy of the Teen Titans. Remember? That funny looking green kid who grew up and became a nobody.

Gar looked over the back of his hand twisting it back and forth like it wasn't really there. He played out the scenario in his mind. Kids these days either didn't know who in the seven hells a 'Teen Titan' was or would come back with a "You're not _green_!" "Yes", he would reply, "I may not be green, but you've got to believe me! I _am_ Beast Boy!"

He smiled. At least he had Rachel. She'd always believe him… Right? "You've got to be kidding", his inner voice seemed to say, "How many times has she rejected you? Called you an idiot? A stupid moron spinach-colored two-year old?" But he never recalled ever being called a liar. Great, now he was talking to himself. Truth be told, watching someone sleep got a bit boring after the first ten minutes or so. Even _if _that person was beautiful.

* * *

Camera 1: Entrance

"I _thought_ I heard some knocking…" Dick said as they walked down the long corridor.

"Are we still going out for waffles?" Vic asked hopeful.

"We really need some new décor in here," Kori pointed out while they walked through the entrance, "You know, I'm good with that kinda stuff."

"And I really need to fix the mainframe." Vic added.

"You think it's the police at the door? Or the media?" Dick asked switching the subject.

"It better not be the media, because I'm not in costume." Kori said.

"Does it really _matter_?" Vic asked giving her a strange look.

"Oh! Oh… Right… Umm… I mean, I guess it's okay if everyone around the world sees us without costume and walking around doing non-heroic things."

Vic glared at her. What was she trying to do? Tip Dick off about the show? Then again, he would probably take it better if his own wife told him.

"Who is it?" Dick yelled.

No answer.

"Hey!" he yelled and opened the sliding doors.

A swarm of paparazzi sprinkled with trampled on policemen came flooding in. Surrounded by flashing lights, constant questions, and the hustle and bustle of people Dick tried to move the crowd out onto the front lawn.

* * *

Camera 3: Gym and Medical Bay

He was on the floor trying to get his tortoise form to get up once flipped on its back. It was something that kept him busy. It was actually quite fun. It sure was a lot more rewarding than trying to get his canine form to talk. Gar slumped in his chair. An idea floated through his head. He looked around. He knew there was no one else in the room, but it was just a reflex to check. What he was about to do was a secret that you took with you to your grave.

He walked over to Rachel's sleeping body. Vic had said she was just sleeping… But sort of in that kinda state where a gentle nudge on the shoulder wouldn't do a thing. She was in a _deep_ sleep. And what else do you do when thy fair maiden is in a deep sleep?

"Prince Charming comes and saves her…" Gar said quietly to himself. He couldn't tear his eyes away. "Hey, I'm no Prince Charming, but I'll be damned if I leave this room without at least _trying_ to wake you up." He knelt down and put both hands on the edge of the bed so he was directly above her. He did it before, why was the second time so hard? Their lips where a hair's width apart. He leaned down and kissed her for all he was worth.

Hopefully this kiss would make things all better. To tell her he was sorry for all the things he had done and what his true feeling were. She was warm… And awake?

They sprang apart like lightning, "Shit! I didn't think it'd work a _second_ time!"

"I think I'm going to go back to sleep," Rachel turned over blushing, "And forget everything that has happened within the last five minutes."

"Wait! Please! You can do anything, just _don't_ go back to sleep!"

They were silent for a few moments. Gar couldn't tell if she had drifted off or not, she was facing away from him. Out of curiosity he walked around the other side of the bed just to make sure.

She had one eye open, "What did you mean a second time?"

He looked away, "What second time?"

"Do you kiss _every_ girl who's sleeping?"

"No…" He mumbled, "Just you."

* * *

Camera 10: Outside

"Why does everyone keep asking me about some stupid show?" Dick yelled over the noise. Somehow he and Kori had gotten together, but Vic was lost in the swarm.

"Yeahh… I keep getting that too…"

"What? Some Teen Titans show? Did someone do some documentary on us? If they did, I haven't seen it yet! And I wouldn't approve of it in the first place!"

"If someone _did_ do some sort of a show about us, would you be angry?" She had to yell to be heard.

"Yes!" He shouted back.

"Oh umm… Since we're a team, only one of us has to approve of there being a show—if there were any—so in that case you couldn't legally sue them." Kori stated.

"That's true but… Did you sign some contract or other that I don't know about?"

"A woman has to have her own personal life doesn't she?"

"Not if it involves the media! And the whole team!" Dick yelled. Kori didn't get a chance to answer as she was pulled away by a horde of people.

* * *

Camera 3: Gym and Medical Bay

"You umm… Were here the whole time?" Rachel asked.

"Periodically… Watching you got kinda boring." Gar wanted to slap himself. Was that something he shouldn't have said?

"And Slade…?"

"Dead."

"How—"

"Blood loss."

Silence. Great, she had committed another felony.

"I see…" Rachel trailed off, "So I've been here… How long?"

"Almost five hours."

She rolled over and sat up with her feet off the side of the bed. She noticed she was still in her blood stained clothes. Both her hands were covered in bandages. Oh right, bloodied knuckles.

"Ummm…" Gar said nervously, "You got knocked out by Slade… Do you remember it?"

"Crystal clear." The window latch became encased in black magic and slid open effortlessly. Raven looked quite shocked though she didn't say a thing.

"Sorry, I forgot to tell you, once we got Vic back online, he fixed the 'no powers' thing," Gar explained, "Turned out to be some nano-bot thing that infected our cells or whatnot. You can ask him for the technical details…"

"I'd rather not."

Gar glanced at the clock on the wall. He should really go back and tell the team Rachel was up. Then again, Vic would know already wouldn't he? At least this way he could spend some more time with Rachel.

"Do… You want to go back to sleep?" Gar asked with a smile. She laughed.

"I think I've slept enough."

* * *

Camera 2: Lobby

Dick was out of breath. After much pulling and tugging, they had squeezed themselves out of the crowd. Police took over from there.

"Okay, I need to get something straight. Vic, you made a TV show about us?" Vic glanced at Kori who just shook her head and gave him an 'I'm sorry' look.

"Yes, well… It was for a good cause…"

"I can't believe you…" Dick sighed. Vic was silent. Kori's stomach grumbled.

"…So, are we still up for waffles?"

* * *

He leaned against her arm. She didn't flinch or move away.

"Can I ask you something?" She asked.

"Sure."

"Are you afraid of me?"

"Why would I be?"

"Because… I'm too powerful."

"What's wrong with that?" He asked her.

Was that really the problem? She thought he was scared of her? Well, he shouldn't blame her, with being called the 'creepy one' all the time.

"Nothing, I guess."

"…You can't love someone if you're afraid of them."

"You really think this relationship—if you call it a relationship—is going to work out?" She asked him skeptically.

"I sure hope so."

"There are going to be a _ton_ of problems."

"Yeah, well, I never was the kind of guy to worry over that." He replied quickly. It would work out he knew it. He put his head on her shoulder.

She yelped, "That still hurts over there you know! Come to think of it, I hurt all over."

"Do you want to sleep more?"

"Didn't you already ask that?"

"But I could kiss you again." He said hopefully. She tilted his head so that he was facing her, looked him in the eyes, and kissed him. They stayed like that, feeling one another, just being there next to them. Once they separated she told him again, "I think I've slept enough."


	16. The Last One After the Last One

Notes: Goodness, it's been a while. I really felt that the story needed a finishing touch, so I have come back from the grave, to make one! This is pretty much Nick's reaction to the aired tv show.

**Epilogue**

* * *

Young Beast Boy's lithe form jumped onscreen followed by Starfire's devastating star bolts. The back of Raven's blue outfit billowed out behind her and suddenly Cyborg's fist comes shooting out of nowhere.

And finally, the hero and leader of them all—Robin, Boy Wonder. Swoops gracefully from behind and walks up to his team, at the last second, looking back. The title phases onscreen in huge black and white letters: _Teen Titans Fifteen-year Reunion: Inside Scope_.

"I can't believe we're watching this," Sam groans as she grabs a handful of popcorn from a big bowl.

"I know!" Nick was on the verge of hyperventilating, his hands shook as he grabbed more popcorn. He stared intently at the screen.

Each Titan's face flashes until all five of them are onscreen. A masculine voice narrates the opening sequence, "The Teen Titans. First made their appearance almost three decades ago." Young Robin is seen smashing Dr. Light's head with his retractable pole. "The Teen Titans consisted of Robin, leader of the Titans, highly skilled in martial arts and various aerodynamics…" Young Robin stands proud for the cameras in true superhero fashion.

"Isn't Nightwing the coolest?" Nick asks his wife without looking away from the television.

She agrees with a, "Mmhmm." But does not add any more comments other than that. Sam fishes an old fashion designer magazine out of a stack next to the couch and flips through it.

"…Starfire, the beautiful lady of the team, yet powerful as well…" Young Starfire is laughing and smiling while gently floating above the ground. "…Beast Boy, the changeling, who can morph into animals…" Young Beast Boy is talking to the camera but the crew has edited out the sound so only his mouth is moving. Suddenly he grins and transforms into a green tiger for the audience.

As Nick devours the remaining popcorn, he catches Sam reading out of the corner of his eye, "Hey! Why aren't you watching this?"

Sam looks up, "What? I am watching it." Nick frowns but his disappointment is replaced with hunger.

"Since you're not watching it, can you make more popcorn?" he hands her the bowl.

"Fine, just tell me when it actually gets interesting." Sam leaves the room and minutes later faint popping noises can be heard.

"…Raven, the mysterious mystic whose true powers are unknown…" Young Raven's face is shielded by her hood, but her frown is clearly visible. "…And Cyborg, the technological genius of the team…" Young Cyborg in all his metal glory yells out to the audience, "Beast Boy will never beat me at Gamestation!" Young Beast Boy's voice can be heard off screen, "No you can—" the next scene cuts him off midsentence.

"These five young teenagers, blessed with superhuman abilities, have saved countless citizens many a time. But one can only be considered _Teen_ for so long. When Robin turned twenty years old, the Teen Titans disbanded." An older video showed Starfire and Raven flying away from the Titans Tower, each going opposite directions. In the background Cyborg's car could be seen driving to an unknown destination. "For years, the Titans have eluded nearly all paparazzi, as pleas in the form of letters, online videos, and petitions from devoted fans pour into the city's government office."

Sam flops back down on the couch with a newly refilled bowl, "Hey honey, I remember this! Didn't you send in a petition or something?"

He nods in anguish, "But they didn't bring the Titans back…" He grabs more popcorn.

"Amid the confusion and increasing crime rate, the young Titans East emerged as the new Teen Titans." An image of the Titans East tower flashes onscreen. "And the Teen Titans slowly faded into history…" The opening scene of all the Teen Titans standing together slowly fades to black.

A burst of white light and, "Fifteen years since the demise of the Teen Titans, has lead to this shocking and interesting documentary, tracing the forgotten lives of the city's most beloved crime fighters. This is… _Teen Titans Fifteen-year Reunion: Inside Scope_!" Theme music plays while the all-grown-up Titans' faces flash onscreen for less than a second. Nightwing's face is the last one to flash but doesn't fade away.

"_Well, I guess this is where I say: 'Welcome back Titans.'_"

The screen flashes to black as a commercial starts.

* * *

On the bottom of the screen appears: "Nightwing" and under that: "formerly Robin"

Nightwing is sitting alone in a comfy looking chair, "I was nervous before the reunion. Everyone expects superheroes to be flawless, but these were very good friends of mine who I haven't heard or seen of in fifteen years! Geez it sounds like such a long time when I say it out loud." He laughs.

On the bottom left corner of the screen there appears the words: "Entrance Cam"

"Are you nervous hon?" Starfire asks calmly while smoothing out Nightwing's outfit as he checks himself over in the mirror.

Nightwing looked over his uniform once again, "Of course I'm nervous!"

"Do you think I should go casual or old time?" Starfire wonders aloud about her choice of wardrobe.

"I'm going in uniform, you might as well too."

On the bottom of the screen appear: "Starfire"

Starfire is sitting in the same chair Nightwing was, "I was very happy to see everyone together again. Friends shouldn't go apart for too long. It's not good for the heart."

There was a distinct knock on the front door.

"First one's here." Nightwing murmured to his wife, "Who do you think it is?"

"If this were years ago, I'd say Raven or Cyborg," She tilts her head ever so slightly, "But I'm not sure. You never know."

Cyborg is the first to arrive, "Hey Nightwing, Star!" He has a huge smile plastered on his face as he bear hugs the both of them. "I'm the first one here?"

"Yeah," Nightwing mutters a bit over excited and nervous as well, "You look well, Cy."

"Life has been good to me. Not as exciting as crime fighting, but running a business is just as strenuous."

"Really? What business?" Starfire inquires innocently. Cyborg hesitates—should he voice which business he runs on television? Life in secrecy would be done with if he did. He lets out a sigh of relief as the front doors open.

Raven comes stumbling into the hall next. A trail of water follows her. She is literally drenched and utterly exhausted.

"…Sorry I'm late." She manages to say while walking over to the center of the room where everyone else seems to have congregated, "It's raining really bad out there." Raven casts a suspicious glare at Cyborg as if to ask "How come you're not wet?"

He remembers that glare. Although not nearly as threatening as it was a decade ago, it still held some power. All he can do is shrug, "I have a built-in umbrella for these occasions."

"How have you been Raven?" Nightwing asks.

"Just dandy."

"Still not the type for conversation huh?" Cyborg chuckles.

She sends him another glare, "Would you like me to stick with one-word answers?"

Starfire is about to lighten up the atmosphere when the front doors open yet again, depositing a green bird that transforms into Beast Boy.

On the bottom of the screen: "Beast Boy"

He reclines in the chair for a moment, taking in the comfortable atmosphere the producers have managed to create, "Who was I looking forward most to see? That's easy. None of them. I didn't want to see them at first. I was against this stupid reunion. But my—err, friend—sort of convinced me to go. But as soon as I stepped into that hall…"

The camera zooms in to capture Beast Boy's reaction as soon as he's human again. His mouth is open and gaping as he stares at the woman standing in front of Nightwing. She looks over her shoulder and catches his eye. No one moves.

"…I couldn't take my eyes off her."

A piece of popcorn falls out of Nick's mouth. He looks for his wife but finds her sitting right next to him. Her eyes are glued to the screen just as much as his are.

"Is that—?" They stutter simultaneously.

"Garfield?!"

"Kori Anders?!"

Nick is taken aback, "—Who?"

She points at the screen, "Kori Anders!" then points at the tower of magazines sitting on the table next to the couch, "The most famous fashion designer that has the most secretive private life of all celebrities!" Realization hits. "Oh my gosh! She's Starfire? She's so pretty in real life!"

Nick waves his hands around, "Hello? Anyone there? Do you not notice that this Garfield who is actually Beast Boy? Who is my best friend? Who I've actually met—and worked with!—and ate lunch with!—and talked with!—and—"

"If you didn't record this I'm going to strangle you!"

"Of course I recorded it! (Just in case!) If I were eighty years old right now I would've had a heart attack three times over!"

* * *

"…was against this stupid reunion. But my—err, friend—"

_whirwhirwhir_

"…against this stupid reunion. But my—err, friend—sort of convinced me—"

_whirwhirwhir_

Sam grabs the remote, "Stop that would you! You're going to break the t.v. by rewinding too much!"

Nick is still staring at the screen, "He looks just like Garfield… except green!"

Sam is slapping his arm lightly, "Be quiet! It's starting!"

"…years since the demise of the Teen Titans, has lead to this shocking and interesting documentary, tracing the forgotten lives of the city's most beloved crime fighters. This is… _Teen Titans Fifteen-year Reunion: Inside Scope_!"

"Elevator Cam"

The top of Raven's head could be seen walking in with her suitcase. She turned around and stared emotionlessly at the open door of the elevator. After a couple seconds Beast Boy came bounding in after her. He looked around the tiny compartment obviously avoiding her. She paid him no mind. As the elevator made its ascent, Beast Boy struggled to make conversation, "So…uh… Rae, how's life?"

She didn't even spare him a glace, "It's …Raven."

"Beast Boy" Appeared on the screen. He was halfway hanging off the chair this time fiddling with the hem of his shirt. "Yeah she didn't take to me so well at first," he laughed and scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "Back when we were teen titans, I'd always call her some nickname like 'Rae' and she didn't like that. She insisted she be called 'Raven'. I always thought it was kind of like our little thing."

"Cyborg Cam"

He was staring at her. Not in any way romantic. It was strictly glaring.

"Are you cold?" she asks. He looks surprised that Raven would be concerned with his well being. Anyone's well being for that matter.

"…No. I'm fine." Beast Boy tells her and gets into the T-Car once Cyborg pulls up.

"Hey, man… leave the door open for Raven."

Beast Boy masks his confusion with sarcasm. "She likes the rain. She's a creepy goth remember?" But his body language tells otherwise. He's staring out the window at her distant form as if he wishes they were both out there.

"Why do you hate Raven so much?"

"I just don't like her! End of story!"

On the bottom of the screen flashes: "Cyborg"

He chuckles lightly, "It was the most blatant lie I've ever heard. Why does Beast Boy hate Raven so much? He probably hates the fact that he doesn't hate her. Does that make sense? You see when Nightwing disbanded the Titans back when he was Robin, Raven had her reasons for wanting to split and Beast Boy took it the wrong way as if she was trying to purposely break them up. We all made it clear that it would ultimately be Robin's decision and we would follow it whether we liked it or not and not hold any sort of grudge against him. Course, holding a grudge against Robin wasn't what Beast Boy did, he held one against Raven instead."

"Starfire"

"Actually Raven doesn't like rain for very practical reasons. It's cold, wet, dirty, makes car accidents more frequent and harder to concentrate in when fighting. About Raven's hatred for Beast Boy? I can't say there was any. She certainly wasn't "a creepy goth" she just had," Starfire paused momentarily, "problems controlling, how shall I say, the demon within, if you will. We all have our inner demons and she was no exception. We could simply handle ours a bit better."

"Roof Cam"

The background was night and although not completely pitch black, it was still dark. Therefore the cameras were recording in night vision.

Raven had her suitcase in hand and was walking towards the edge of the roof. She stopped at the edge briefly and had a puzzled look on her face. After a while she crossed her arms angrily and stalked back to the entrance only to stop mid way.

"Dammit." She cursed at nothing in particular besides her own inability to make a decision. Raven paced back and forth for a while. It was quite comical actually. The door to the roof creaks open and Beast Boy walks out.

"Nightwing"

"I was shocked that they were thinking of sneaking off in the middle of the night like that! We just had a reunion and you can't even say good bye? Yes I was a little mad when I saw that."

"Starfire"

"I thought it was cute. They both decide to leave, then both decide to stay? It's the first step in a relationship is reading your spouse's mind isn't it?" she laughs.

"Nightwing"

He sighs heavily and leans back in the chair, "I understand their reasoning. If I were in their shoes, there would be the option of leaving without telling anyone, yes, I admit it. I admit having done so myself occasionally in the past."

Beast Boy was smiling like an idiot throughout their rooftop conversation. His awkward attempts at a compliment and her awkward attempts at a conversation were pitiful if not hilarious.

"It's complicated demon stuff." Raven said as Beast Boy shrugged off her last comment. He points out that the rain has stopped. There isn't a cloud in sight but the sky is still painted a dark navy blue. The early risers of the city start to stir as the two make their way back inside.

* * *

She was bouncing up and down on the sofa, "This is so exciting!"

"Please stop that… It's very awkward to watch." Nightwing confessed.

"I love the way they did the opening sequence. It was gorgeous!" she gushed.

"By the way, wasn't Rachel interviewed too? I haven't seen hers yet." He asked referring to that horrible set up the crew had put together with that horrible—yet comfy—chair and horrible fake setting.

Starfire pauses the tape, "Actually I think she didn't want to be interviewed."

Nightwing was surprised, "She declined? Why?"

"I believe her words were, 'a complete waste of my time' and 'humiliation by television is a lot worse when you're the one on it'."

"She thinks she'll be humiliated? Not as much as any of the rest of us."

Starfire giggled and kissed him on the cheek, "Then don't watch this next part."

"Why, what's the next part—?"

"_Okay I won't go easy on you! And remember—no powers!"_

Nightwing gawked remembering what comes next, "You're right. I'm leaving."

"I can't believe they put that on television!" Could be heard from down the hall.

* * *

On the bottom left corner of the screen: "Gym and Med Bay Cam"

"Do you need a towel? Water? Anything?" Beast Boy asks Raven as they proceed to follow Nightwing into the medical bay after the sparring.

"No thank you. I'm fine." Raven replies.

He slaps her on the back lightly, "Hey! But you did really good considering Nightwing does this for a living!"

She winces slightly at the contact, subtle but not unmissed by the well trained eye.

"S-Sorry. Are you—"

"It's just a bruise." She cuts him off clearly trying to tell him to back off, "I can heal it myself just fine."

"Stop avoiding me." Beast Boy persists, "How about a… nice relaxing massage then?"

Her eyebrow perks up slightly at the suggestion. Yes, a nice massage would be very nice. But by Beast Boy? Does he even know how to give massages?

She hesitates but his toothy grin and hopeful eyes seals the deal. She sighs, "Fine. But make it quick."

* * *

"Lobby Cam"

Raven was standing behind Beast Boy leaning over the back of the couch. Her hair obscured her facial expression but she stayed in that position for some time. He had fallen back asleep after their short conversation. She reached a hand out to caress his face but decided against it and rested her hand on his shoulder instead. "Am I still the emotionless teenager that I was all those years ago?" she questioned his sleeping form. With a last look Raven straightened and left the lobby.

"Beast Boy"

He seemed a bit calmer than last time and wasn't fidgeting around so much, "Raven told me she found one of the cameras in her room after that conversation. I guess she didn't tell anyone since I was just as surprised as the rest of the team when we all found out in the end."

"Starfire"

She was smiling as usual, "Nightwing's reaction to finding out he was being taped? He wanted to sue someone. But I thought it would be different if the public knew superheroes have the same type of problems as they do. Such as running to the grocery store when we're out of something or running back from a fight to watch some show that's coming on t.v. We're all human too," the human comment slipped out before she could catch it, "Well… You know what I mean."

* * *

"Gym and Med Bay Cam"

Beast Boy had just admitted to kissing Raven twice in the med bay.

"What do you mean 'just me'?" Raven asked quite curious but kept her back to him.

"Honestly who _wouldn't_ want to?" He said quickly. The room was silent until he broke it, "I'm sorry."

Raven was genuinely surprised after his last comment but brushed it off, "It's fine. You don't have to be sorry." Her face turned pink, "It was nice."

Beast Boy almost jumped back, "What? You liked it? Are you serious?"

"Y-Yes," she struggled to admit and was glad she wasn't talking to him face to face, "Why are you making a big deal out of it?"

"Because I'm surprised! I really am! Here I am apologizing for keeping a grudge against you, and treating you like shit, but it turns out that you liked it! I don't know, I'm just amazed!" Beast Boy was grinning, "Amazed but happy that you're not mad!"

She shot up off the bed, "What? That's what you were apologizing for? You weren't apologizing for the kiss?"

This time his face turned a shade of red, "Wha—? How did you get that impression…" He mentally replayed the conversation back in his mind and caught the misunderstanding, "Wait… So you thought it was nice?" he grinned slyly.

Raven looked away, "I don't know what you're talking about. I told you I was going to forget everything that occurred in the last five minutes."

He crawled on top of the bed, "Would you like me to jog your memory then?"

She flopped down on the bed to put some distance between them. He followed.

"Possibly. Although I don't think one will be enough to jog my memory…"

On the bottom of the screen: "Beast Boy"

He was blushing like a mad man but seemed giddy enough, "I think it was one of the best moments of my life. I'm glad the producers didn't show the rest of that scene." He laughed, "Actually I'm kind of embarrassed. Can I go now?"

* * *

He pulled apart for air. They were both panting. The television was on in the next room.

Beast Boy's voice floated through the rooms, "…_kind of embarrassed. Can I go now?"_

She laughed, "You were embarrassed?"

"Yeah." He smiled sheepishly and kissed her again, "Are you mad I'm not man enough?"

"No. Or we wouldn't be in this position now would we?"

He leaned down so their foreheads were touching but he could still look into her eyes, "You didn't even _let_ them interview you and you laugh that I'm embarrassed?"

Her eyes softened. She could feel his emotions weren't radiating pain or sadness. "Are you mad?" she asked anyway.

"No. Or I wouldn't do this—" he closed the gap between them. She deepened the kiss. They had only just started when a shrill ringing filled the room, completely throwing off the romantic atmosphere. He cursed loudly and grabbed his cell phone from the edge of the bed.

"Aw shit it's Nick." He told her, the phone still ringing, "He probably wants to have a _long_ talk with me and then invite me over and have dinner with his wife."

"Does he want you to talk _today_?" She asked a little sourly. Even if it _was _her man's best friend, he had interrupted their 'romantic moment' and they didn't get a lot of those.

"Probably." The ringing stopped. 'One New Urgent Voicemail' was flashing on the screen. An idea struck him, "How about you come with me?"

She rolled over to grab some covers that had escaped her, "Sure why not. I can finally meet this guy."

He beamed, "I'll tell him we'll come in a few hours." He started dialing. "Thank you. He means a lot to me you know."

"I know." She mumbled from under the covers. His brows furrowed. Her response didn't sound right…

He scooted over to her and lifted the covers away from her face, "But only _you _mean the absolute _world _to me." He pecked her cheek and she smiled.


End file.
